So, the Europa League draw has turned out well enough for us; we’ve drawn Sporting CP, whom you might remember from the 2018-19 UEL group stage and who offered 180 minutes of some of the dullest, most-negative football in recent memory. Marcel Keizer is long-gone, as are Nani and Bruno Fernandes. Still, the fact that we’re playing against the former club of both players is enough motivation for me to want us to absolutely thrash this side just in case one or both players still hold the club close to the cockles of their hearts. The only factor mediating that feeling is the presence of Héctor Bellerín, whom I must admit I do remember fondly. With apologies, Heccy, I do hope we thrash this new club of yours.

Under new manager Rúben Amorim, Sporting do seem to play a more-positive, forward-looking style based on possession. Starting in a 3-4-3 but shifting to a 5-2-3 when defending (which we might assume they’ll end up doing more of against us), they seem to try to create congestion in the middle and concede play out to the flanks. This may have to shift, however, given how much of our attack flows through Saka and Martinelli. Even if Arteta opts to rest one or both of them, our attack will probably continue to look to exploit those wide areas.

Of course, it’ll be hard to read just what Amorim decides to do. Their Champions League group stage matches against Tottenham and Eintracht Frankfurt suggest that they’re willing to stick to principles but also adapt as necessary. Having beaten Tottenham in the first “leg”, they kept only 41% possession in the reverse fixture to earn a 1-1 draw. However, needing a win or draw at home to Frankfurt, they struggled to a 1-2 loss, failing to nurse an early 1-0 lead and then sliding down into the Europa League as a result. These tea-leaves suggest that we can probably afford to rotate players at least at a few positions while still pushing Sporting back and easing into the next round.

The player to watch will be midfielder Pote, who leads the squad with 15 goals in 30 appearances across all competitions—although he does seem to feast on smaller prey, with no goals in the Champions League and just three goals in total against Portugal’s other big clubs Porto, Braga, and Benfica. In the end, this is probably a lot of ink to spill in talking about a side we really should be able to batter. To further motivate our fans if not the players, maybe we could arrange for each of Sporting’s starters to wear Bruno Fernandes masks. He may have left Sporting a few years ago, but it’s hard to link of a more-punchable face than his.

In other news, I guess we owe Tottenham a favour after they took Sporting’s Pedro Porro on loan (even if that is part of what triggered Bellerín’s move). Porro had been one of their most-important players. Elsewhere, Man U managed to squeeze past Barcelona and have drawn Real Betis and Juve have drawn FC Freiburg, which suggests that all three of us have a good chance of advancing. We’ll play at home first on 9 March (five days after hosting Bournemouth and three  before going to Fulham) with the second leg in Lisbon on 16 March (four days after going to Fulham and three before hosting Palace). That feels…manageable, unlike other years in which such fixtures have come before or after tougher Prem fixtures. I’ll take it.