Sporting vs Arsenal highlights

Player ratings

So many choices for MOTM tonight. We've settled on a three-way tie between Gabriel, Odegaard and Saka.

Read Kaya Kaynak's player ratings from a superb Arsenal display here.

Gabriel and Martin Odegaard were outstanding as Arsenal beat Sporting . (Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty Images)

FULL TIME! SPORTING 1-5 ARSENAL!

David Raya is forced in to some late saves but it stays 5-1 here.

That is truly a statement victory for the Gunners. The performance had everything. First half dominance, second half steal. Arsenal look back to their best.

GOAL! SPORTING 1-5 ARSENAL! TROSSARD!

Arsenal have a fifth!

Leandro Trossard heads home the rebound from Mikel Merino's shot

More subs

More subs for Arsenal as Martin Odegaard and Riccardo Calafiori are replaced by Ethan Nwaneri and Oleksandr Zinchenko.

Arsenal subs

Gabriel Martinelli and Declan Rice are replaced by Leandro Trossard and Mikel Merino

GOAL! SPORTING 1-4 ARSENAL! SAKA

Saka makes no mistake finding the corner. Great penalty. Surely that's game over this time!

Penalty Arsenal!

Arsenal have a chance to end the game afer slide tackle from behind by Diomande catches Odegaard.

Gyokeres free kick

Sporting really have their tails up here and the home crowd are sensing a famous comeback.

They win a free kick on the edge of the box and the main man Viktor Gyokeres steps up to take. He almosts blasts it out the stadium though. Not seen much from him to suggest he's worth anywhere near the £80m Sporting are said to want for him.

GOAL! SPORTING 1-3 ARSENAL! INACIO!

It's not over yet!

Sporting have one back right away. They came out of the blocks looking motivated and have chipped away at the deficit courtesy of Goncalo Ignacio who has flicked home from a corner.

KICK OFF! SPORTING 0-3 ARSENAL!

We're back underway here!

Half time ratings

Raya 6

Timber 8

Saliba 8

Gabriel 8

Calafiori 6

Partey 7

Odegaard 9

Rice 8

Saka 8

Havertz 8

Martinelli 8

HALF TIME! SPORTING 0-3 ARSENAL!

That's the last action of the half. Arsenal have been sublime here. It's hard to think of when they last played this well in Europe away from home. This is not an easy place to come but they've made it look a doddle!

GOAL! SPORTING 0-3 ARSENAL! GABRIEL!

Arsenal have another! Set piece FC are back as Gabriel heads home Rice's superb corner.

Sporting shot

Arsenal have been totally dominant here but they're not home and hosed yet.

Geovany Quenda finds space on the right side of the box and fires just over as a reminder.

Rice blast

Arsenal are on the attack again.

Odegaard finds Saka who cuts in to shoot. His effort bounces straight off the midrith of Kai Havertz and into the path of Declan Rice. The England midfielder wants to hammer it home but his shot from a tight angle is wild and wide.

Close to a third

Arsenal are playing soe lovely stuff here.

Martin Odegaard attempts another lob over the top. Kai Havertz is on the end of it but is just offside as he sees his shot saved.

Going out with a bang!

It was raucous here at kick off but had gone a bit quiet after the second goal.

The home fans have tried to get the atmosphere going by letting off some fireworks. Their team could do with that on the pitch.

GOAL! SPORTING 0-2 ARSENAL! HAVERTZ!

The Gunners have doubled their lead!

Thomas Partey floats over the back line to Bukayo Saka. He attempts to score himself by prodding through the Sporting keeper's legs. Kai Havertz is there to tap home on the goal line just to make sure!

Lovely lob

Sporting have had a bit of a spell in the Arsenal half here, but the Gunners counter well. Martin Odegaard gets it on the edge of the box where he's so dangerous. He looks to lob it over to Martinelli, but the ball is just over hit. Would have been a great pass.

GOAL! SPORTING 0-1 ARSENAL!

Arsenal are in front!

It's a superb low ball from Jurrien Timber that they have to thank. Gabriel Martinelli is on hand to tap in at the back post.

Early scuffle

Kai Havertz and Ousmanne Diomande have tussled off the ball here and the latter has been shown a yellow card much to the displeasure of the home fans. Diomande is furious and has a go at the linesman.

KICK OFF! SPORTING 0-0 ARSENAL!

We're underway!

Players are out

The players are out on the pitch here at the Jose Alvalade Stadium.

Sporting CP vs Arsenal to follow soon.

Players head in

The players are in from their warm up here in Lisbon.

Not long now to kick off.

Team news

Mikel Arteta has made four changes to his starting XI from Saturday's win over Forest. He's gone very strong too! Declan Rice and Kai Havertz are back alongside Gabriel Martinelli and Thomas Partey.

Arsenal starting XI vs Sporting - Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Partey, Odegaard, Rice; Saka, Havertz, Martinelli.

Subs - Neto, Setford, Tierney, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Lewis-Skelly, Merino, Jorginho, Sterling, Nwaneri, Trossard, Jesus

Predicted team

It's not too long now until we find out who will be starting for the Gunners tonight.

This is the team we are expecting to see...

Declan Rice and Kai Havertz are both in line to start for Arsenal against Sporting Lisbon. (Photo by Mark Leech/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)

Latest match odds

Here are the latest odds on the match from official Champions League sport betting partner bet365.

Bet Boost: Bukayo Saka to Score from Outside the Box @ 11/1Bet Boost: Viktor Gyokeres to be First Goalscorer @ 11/2

Arteta breaks silence on Gyokeres

Mikel Arteta swerved any direct reference of Viktor Gyokeres when asked about the Arsenal-linked Sporting CP striker during his press conference before the two teams meet.

The Gunners are back in Champions League action on Tuesday, playing Portuguese opposition at the Jose Alvalade Stadium. While their previous manager Ruben Amorim has moved to Man United since, they will do well to remember that only four weeks ago Man City fell 4-1 at this ground.

An interesting sub-plot to the fixture is that Arsenal have been increasingly rumoured to be interested in Sporting's serial goalscorer Gyokeres.

Since he transferred to the club from Coventry City for £17m in 2023, the Sweden international has netted 67 goals in 69 appearances, including 24 strikes in this season so far alone.

Therefore Gyokeres is very much the danger man Arsenal will need to stop on Tuesday night, and Arteta was posed the question what he thinks about the striker and how to silence him.

Read what he had to say here.

Sporting striker Viktor Gyokeres (Image: Gualter Fatia/Getty Images)

Where to watch and kick off time

Arsenal's next Champions League assignment takes them to the home of Portuguese champions Sporting CP, with Mikel Arteta hoping to see his side return to winning ways in Europe.

A first match back from the November international break ended successfully, with the Gunners defeating Nottingham Forest 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium.

Now the task is to collect another three points in the Champions League - a feat that evaded Arteta's side when they last played in the competition, against Inter Milan at the San Siro.

Arsenal will want to make sure they qualify for the competition's knockout stages automatically as part of the league phase's top eight. If they go via the play-offs it would mean playing two extra matches in February on top of an already gruelling calendar.

With seven points won from 12 available to date, there are another 12 to play for in the fixtures remaining. Up first are Sporting of course, with ties against AS Monaco, Dinamo Zagreb and Girona to come.

Considering all of the above, Gunners fans will undoubtedly want to follow the action tonight so here football.london provides all of the relevant information to do just that here.

Mikel Arteta and David Raya at the Estadio Jose Alvalade (Image: Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Welcome

Hello and welcome to football.london's coverage of Sporting CP vs Arsenal!