The State of Play
Arsenal come into this one on the back of their eighth successive Premier League victory at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday evening but it was a lot more hard-fought than the previous seven in 2024. Kai Havertz scored an 86th minute winning goal in that game as the Gunners sneaked past Brentford by two goals to one to keep them firmly involved in the Premier League title race.
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Ever since their surprise 1-0 defeat of Arsenal in the first-leg of this UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie last month at the Estadio do Dragao, FC Porto have enjoyed a much-improved run of form. They have since won a Taca de Portugal quarter-final against Santa Clara and also enjoyed a hammering of Portimonense in their last outing as well as thrashing O Classico rivals Benfica by five goals to nil earlier this month.
Team News
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal will be able to re-select David Raya for this one after he missed the game at the weekend due to being ineligible against his parent club. Jurrien Timber remains unavailable but Gabriel Martinelli should be fit to play.
Sergio Conceicao and Porto are missing several key players. Inter Milan-bound forward Mehdi Taremi remains unavailable due to injury, as do Ivan Marcano, Zaidu Sanusi and Gabriel Veron.
Expected Line-ups
Arsenal: David Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Kiwior; Rice, Jorginho, Odegaard; Saka, Havertz, Martinelli
Porto: Diogo Costa; Joao Mario, Pepe, Otavio, Wendell; Nico Gonzalez, Alan Varela; Conceicao, Pepe, Galeno; Evanilson
What they Said
Despite it not being as comfortable win as others recently, Arteta said the victory over Brentford ‘felt great’. “I’m really pleased with the performance, the maturity, the emotional control that we showed, and how we overcame difficulties.”
In the aftermath of their first-leg victory over their English counterparts, Sergio Conceicao was emotional and dedicated the victory to his late mother. “I want to dedicate this victory to the woman of my life: to my mother. It’s been 30 years since you left today. She had a difficult life. This victory is for her.”
When and How to Watch
This match will be played at the Emirates Stadium at 20:00 on Tuesday March 12th and will be shown live on TNT Sports in the UK. It will also be able to be streamed via the TNT Sports app.
Prediction
In 2024, Arsenal have a 100% record in the Premier League but have suffered losses in both the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League. They were immensely frustrated and generally toothless at the Dragao a few weeks ago and they will have their work cut out to win by more than one against a stubborn and actually improved, aggressive Portuguese side. Arsenal are still expected to win but it would not be a surprise to see extra-time after a low-scoring 90 minutes.
