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13 min: Arsenal pile on the pressure, playing the ball around the fringes of the Sporting penalty area as they try to find an opening. Despite a couple of early scares, they’re taking control of this game.
11 min: Sporting centre-back Goncalo Ignacio sticks in a foot and prods the ball out of play for a corner as Gabriel Martinelli tries to jink his way through the Sporting penalty area. Fabio Vieira takes the corner but nothing comes of it. Throw-in for Sporting, deep in their own half.
8 min: A low Ricardo Esgaio cross from the right is intended for Francisco Trincao but William Saliba cuts it out and clears.
6 min: Pedro Goncalves gets the better of Jorginho, getting in behind the Arsenal defence as he chases a long ball from deep. He cuts inside and tries to curl a shot around Matt Turner and inside the far post but sends his effort well wide.
5 min: Bukayo Saka plays the ball wide to Reiss Nelson on the left touchline. He quickly sends a cross into the Sporting penalty area, which Martinelli stretches to get his head to. He’s unable to get any control on his header and perhaps could have done with a shout from Fabio Vieira, who was lurking behind him.
2 min: Sporting goalkeeper Antonio Adan takes an early kick-out, picking out Hidemasa Morita out by the right touchline. Sporting advance upfield and Ben White hoofs the ball into touch. There are plenty of empty seats in the stadium but those Sporting fans who are present are creating quite the din.
Sporting v Arsenal is go ...
1 min: Gabriel Martinelli gets the ball rolling for Arsenal, the Brazilian expected to play through the centre tonight. He and his teammates wear their traditional kit of red shirts with white sleeves, white shorts and red socks. Their hosts wear green and white hooped shirts, black shorts and green socks.
Not long now: The teams are out and line up either side of German referee Tobias Stieler and his team of match officials in a stadium that has yet to fill up. It being an early kick-off, it’s no great surprise.
Sporting v Arsenal line-ups
Sporting: Adan, St Juste, Coates, Inacio, Esgaio, Gonclaves, Morita, Reis, Edwards, Paulinho, Trincao.
Subs: Israel, Santos, Neto, Rochinha, Issahaku, Diomande, Tanlongo, Gomes, Cabral, Chermiti, Mateus, Essugo.
Arsenal: Turner, White, Saliba, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Xhaka, Jorginho, Saka, Vieira, Nelson, Martinelli.
Subs: Ramsdale, Hillson, Partey, Gabriel, Smith Rowe, Holding, Tomiyasu, Bandeira, Sagoe, Smith, Walters.
Arsenal team news: Mikel Arteta makes six changes to the side that left it late to stun Bournemouth in added time last weekend. Last weekend’s match-winner Reiss Nelson comes into the side, while January signing Jakub Kiwior makes his first appearance for the club since arriving from Spezia in January. Matt Turner start in goal for Arsenal, while Granit Xhaka, Ben White and Jorginho also come into the team. While Gabriel Jesus has travelled, he isn’t included in the matchday squad.
Tonight's match officials
Referee: Tobias Stieler
Assistant referees: Christian Gittelmann and Mark Borsch
Fourth official: Robert Schröder
VAR: Bastian Dankert
Early team news
Gooners everywhere were buoyed by the news that Gabriel Jesus has travelled to Portugal but the club have remained coy on the subject of how much, if any involvement the Brazilian will have in tonight’s game. An absentee through injury since returning from the World Cup, Jesus has not played since lining up for his country against Cameroon over three months ago in early December.
One man who definitely won’t be playing is Kieran Tierney, an undeniably good left-back who is becoming an increasingly peripheral figure at Arsenal due in no small part to his habit of getting injured and the excellence of Oleksandr Zinchenko.The Scot was expected to get a run out tonight but didn’t travel because of illness.
Having been forced off against Bournemouth last weekend, Leandro Trossard will not be risked, while Eddie Nketiah is also recovering from a knock. Some or all of Emile Smith-Rowe, Jorginho, Matt Turner, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Reiss Nelson and Fabio Vieria could all start tonight.
Sporting are without their defensive midfielder Manuel Ugarte, who is currently being hawked around various Premier League clubs including Wolves, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur. The Uruguayan is suspended after picking up his third booking of the tournament last time out in Sporting’s 4-0 rout of Midtjylland last time out. Mateo Tanlongo is likely to start in his place, with Daniel Braganca a long-term absentee with a ruptured cruciate.
Arsenal fans could get to a enjoy a reunion with a much-loved familiar face if their old friend Hector Bellerin is in the Sporting matchday squad. Tottenham academy graduate Marcus Edwards is expected to line-up for Sporting, while the former Liverpool and Sunderland defender Sebastian Coates is likely to skipper the Portuguese side.
Europa League R16 first leg: Sporting v Arsenal
The Estadio Jose Alvalade is the venue for tonight’s Europa League Round of 16 first leg between Sporting Clube de Portugal and Arsenal. Having seen Tottenham go out of the Champions League with barely a whimper last night, Arsenal fans will be hoping for even more reasons to be cheerful in the current 24-hour window. Their side takes on Portuguese opposition that finished behind Spurs and Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League group stages before being parachuted into this competition.
Focused on the Premier League but still in the hunt for their first European silverware since 1994, Arsenal could be forgiven for playing a weakened side while keeping one eye firmly on on Sunday’s top flight match away at Fulham, but Mikel Arteta has brought a strong side to Portugal. “If we play well and are able to win the game, for sure we’ll be able to prepare better for the next game,” he said. Kick-off in Lisbon is at 5.45pm (GMT) but stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up.
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