Galeno’s late wonder strike means there’s work for Arsenal to do in their Champions League round of 16 second leg against Porto on Tuesday.
The Gunners were riding a wave of momentum heading into the first leg but succumbed to Sergio Conceicao’s savvy and diligent outfit which has set up an enthralling return leg in north London.
Arsenal are aiming to progress into the quarter-finals of this competition for the first time since 2010.
Mikel Arteta’s side have won eight straight games in the Premier League, looking imperious while doing so, and supporters must be confident of a Tuesday night turnaround.
Porto, meanwhile, have found another gear in recent weeks. A 5-0 thumping of Benfica thrust them back into Primeira Liga title contention and they extended their winning run to six matches across all competitions at the weekend.
Here’s 90min’s preview of Tuesday night’s Champions League round of 16 second leg.
Arsenal | Porto |
|---|---|
Arsenal 2-1 Brentford – 09/03/24 | Portimonense 0-3 Porto – 08/03/24 |
Sheffield United 0-6 Arsenal – 04/03/24 | Porto 5-0 Benfica – 03/03/24 |
Arsenal 4-1 Newcastle – 24/02/24 | Santa Clara 1-2 Porto – 29/02/24 |
Porto 1-0 Arsenal – 21/02/24 | Gil Vicente 1-1 Porto – 25/02/24 |
Burnley 0-5 Arsenal – 17/02/24 | Porto 1-0 Arsenal – 21/02/24 |
Country | TV channel/live stream |
|---|---|
United Kingdom | discovery+ App, TNT Sports 1, discovery+, TNT Sports Ultimate |
United States | Paramount+ |
Canada | DAZN |
Arteta is closing in on having a fully fit squad, although Gabriel Martinelli suffered an injury setback at Sheffield United and is a doubt for this fixture having missed Saturday’s win.
Jurrien Timber remains sidelined, while Takehiro Tomiyasu is unlikely to feature.
David Raya will return between the sticks, replacing Aaron Ramsdale, while Jakub Kiwior deserves to keep his place over Oleksandr Zinchenko.
Arsenal predicted lineup vs Porto (4-3-3): Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Kiwior; Jorginho, Rice, Odegaard; Saka, Havertz, Martinelli.
The visitors are without Zaidu Sanusi due to a long-term knee injury, while Mehdi Taremi, who’s leaving in the summer to join Inter, is also out with a knee problem.
Ivan Marcano is another long-term injury absence.
Conceicao could deploy an unchanged XI from the first leg.
Porto predicted lineup vs Arsenal (4-4-2): Costa; Mario, Pepe, Otavio, Wendell; Conceicao, Varela, Gonzalez, Galeno; Pepe, Evanilson.
Never underestimate Champions League heritage. Porto have it in abundance and stalwart Pepe will be defending the visitors’ box for his life on Tuesday.
Porto’s canny credentials were laid out in the first leg, although there’s no doubting Arsenal’s superiority. The Gunners should be wise to their dark arts on home soil, with the Emirates faithful set to give the hosts a big boost.
A cagey affair should be expected, but it could be decided by an impressive Arsenal burst which gets them over the line.
