football.london address what changes should be made to the Arsenal team that face Sporting CP in the Champions League
07:00, 14 Apr 2026
Ben White and Max Dowman are players who Mikel Arteta must consider for Arsenal clash with Sporting CP
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Ben White and Max Dowman are players who Mikel Arteta must consider for Arsenal clash with Sporting CP(Image: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
There is a difficulty trying to predict or even just suggest what team Arsenal should play in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Sporting CP on Wednesday night. Tuesday will bring some clarity, less so from what Mikel Arteta will inevitably not tell us and more so from the open training session.
Hands will be clasped together in a prayer-like manner that Bukayo Saka, Jurrien Timber, Riccardo Calafiori and Martin Odegaard will be present during the session. Piero Hincapie and Eberechi Eze’s return to the squad on Saturday was a positive sign.
Yet there are no guarantees, and Timber’s post-match words have not brought much confidence, despite Arteta suggesting more than a week ago that he was in contention to return. Whether that was just misleading to throw off his opponents or something changed, we do not know.
However, what has naturally been taken as not wanting to give away much team news appears to instead raise supporters' blood pressure and anxiety. We’re at a stage of the season where players have to commit to these last seven to ten matches.
The presence of the World Cup is clearly going to be on some of their minds. But the margins are so fine, and a Premier League and/or Champions League medal is on the line.
When it comes to picking the team, naturally, Manchester City comes into view. But if Arsenal can grab control of the tie, take a significant first-half lead into the second, then Arteta can hope to shut up shop, rest players and turn attention to Sunday.
With that in mind, I think if Odegaard is not available, or Saka, then something exciting and committed needs to be chosen. A team that gets the crowd up, and if there is one player that does that right now, it is Max Dowman.
Equally, Ben White looks a shadow of himself and is rather shattered and making mistakes. Bring Cristhian Mosquera in, give Myles Lewis-Skelly the freedom to move forward and join the midfield, supporting the three there.
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Kai Havertz and Viktor Gyokeres cannot partner with one another; it needs to be one or the other. This team needs a win, and a good one and if anything having this game could lift everything for them in the right way.
Changed Arsenal XI vs Sporting CP: Raya; Mosquera, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly; Zubimendi, Rice, Dowman; Madueke, Gyokeres, Eze
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