Arsenal Vs. Porto: The Gunners Fight Against The Goals Deficit Against Porto At Emirates

Kai Havertz, fighting for Arsenal's victory (photo: x @arsenal)

JAKARTA - Arsenal will try hard to turn things around when they host Porto in the second leg of the Champions League last 16 at the London Emirates Stadium, Tuesday 12 March or Wednesday morning WIB. After losing 0-1 in the first meeting, the Gunners are in danger of being eliminated from this competition again.

In the first meeting, Arsenal were close to a draw, but Galeno's spectacular goal in the last minute shattered their hopes. Even though Arsenal are in good form in domestic competitions, leading at the top of the Premier League standings, they need very good performance to ensure their survival in the Champions League.

The manager, Mikel Arteta, hopes that his team can repeat their brilliant performance in the group, where they managed to win all the games by scoring 12 goals and no one got into their net. However, Arsenal had a poor record in the Champions League, just once in the last ten attempts they managed to advance after losing in the first leg.

Arsenal's six-goal win over Sheffield United left Gabriel Martinelli seriously injured in the leg. There was even news that he was seen in the Emirates using a stick last weekend. This makes his chances of recovering this Tuesday appear to have eased.

Takehiro Tomiyasu, who is still injured, is also expected to be out, while Jurrien Timber is still a few weeks away from ACL's injury. Arsenal may also have to play without Gabriel Martinelli who is still injured. But Arsenal got a boost from Oleksandr Zinchenko's return from a calf problem against Brentford.

Goalkeeper David Raya, who watched the match against his old club without being able to do anything, is predicted to get his place back in goal from Aaron Ramsdale. Moreover, the Gunners second goalkeeper was due to a blunder in the first half that made Brentford equalize but made up for it with two good saves in the second half.

Meanwhile, Porto will also come in high spirits after satisfactory domestic results, including a 5-0 win over Benfica. However, they also had to fight hard to maintain their lead at the Emirates.

But Porto will probably lose Zaidu Sanusi and Ivan Marcano due to an ACL injury. Luckily Porto's left-back,efect has also recovered from an injury that made him substituted at the end of the first leg.

Gabriel Veron is also being treated for the Achilles issue, but Porto fans are delighted that the Mehdi Taremi star striker is expected to engage after being absent in the first leg due to thigh problems.

21-year-old striker Evanilson is inevitable, so Francisco Conceicao may have to be sacrificed to accommodate Taremi's return, and Porto's defense will once again be led by veteran Pepe, who is still strong at the age of 41.

This match is predicted to be a tough battle, where both teams are fighting hard to get tickets to the next round. The tacticians of each team, Mikel Arteta and Sergio Conceicao, will definitely prepare their best strategy to win this match.

Arsenal are definitely trying hard to reverse their deficit and Porto hopes to maintain their lead

Player Forecast:

Arsenal: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Jorginho, Rice; Saka, Havertz, Jesus

Porto: Costa; Mario, Pepe, Otavio,men; Varela, Gonzalez; Conceicao, Pepe, Galeno; Evanilson