Arsenal Vs Sporting CP: Win… then let the kids play

Arsenal host Sporting CP on Thursday night in the fourth Europa League match. Unai Emery must look to secure qualification with a win, then he can truly let the kids play.

Unai Emery has duly taken the chance that the Europa League offers to rotate through his squad. The likes of Matteo Guendouzi, Emile Smith Rowe and Rob Holding have been key players in Arsenal’s European endeavours thus far, with Emery trusting those younger, reserve players to anchor his team and replicate the same level of performance as what he sees in the Premier League.

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The team that Emery tends towards in the Europa League, moulded by a mix of veterans and burgeoning prospects, is good enough to win these group-stage matches. And it is good enough to win on Thursday night against Sporting CP, the fourth match out of six.

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Emery should continue to play this fairly strong team, still fielding the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mohamed Elneny (when fit), Aaron Ramsey and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Although I am sure he is tempted to let the kids loose, as he almost did last week against Blackpool in the EFL Cup, Arsenal’s first priority should still be on winning this match. And Emery’s teamsheet needs to reflect that.

Once the game is won, which it should be with such a line-up, then Emery can let the kids go and play. With a win, the Gunners will sit top of the group on 12 points. The next closest will be Sporting on six and Vorksla on six, if they beat FK Qarabag on Thursday. As such, with two games then remaining, the group will essentially be won, with qualification assured.

It is then far easier and freeing, from that position, for Emery to unleash the kids that he is yet to play in the Europa League — I am not here referring to the likes of Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Smith Rowe and Guendouzi, who Emery clearly deems good enough to already be playing in the Europa League.

Eddie Nketiah, for instance, has only snook onto the bench on a couple of occasions. It would be nice to see him given some minutes in European action. The same goes for Joe Willock, who impressed in the competition last season. And also for Julio Pleguezuelo, the defender having made his first senior start for the club last week against Blackpool.

It would be great for these players to be afforded some minutes in the Europa League this season. They are obviously not going to get them in the knockout stages in the new year, so it makes sense to play them in relatively meaningless group-stage matches. But first, there is a game to be won.

Sporting CP can still cause Arsenal problems with an upset on Thursday. In a bid to win the group and secure an easier knockout draw, it is important that Emery keeps his foot firmly on the gas pedal. Then he can let the kids play.