Declan Rice is set to hand Arsenal a major boost for their Champions League quarter-final clash with Sporting .
The Gunners are in Portugal on Tuesday night for the first leg of their last-eight tie, looking to bounce back from consecutive defeats.
Rice missed the second of those, a shock loss to Southampton at St Mary's , but he trained on Monday and is expected to return to the Arsenal squad.
Mikel Arteta also confirmed that Gabriel is available despite his injury scare on the weekend.
The Brazilian was forced off in the second half against Southampton and immediately had ice strapped to his knee.
However, he has recovered from that and is set to start alongside William Saliba at the heart of defence.
Arsenal will be without Bukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber, with neither travelling to Portugal.
"They haven't travelled in yet," Arteta said.
"Let's see, hopefully they're going to be ready for the weekend, if everything goes well.
"That's a massive boost because in recent days we've lost so many important players and that's something that we need to change immediately."
Cristhian Mosquera could get the nod at right-back in Timber's absence, while Riccardo Calafiori looks set to come into the side with Piero Hincapie still out.
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With Saka out, Noni Madueke will likely be the preferred option on the right, though Max Dowman's form could see Arteta hand him minutes at some stage of the match.
Viktor Gyokeres appears certain to lead the line against his former side.
He has five goals in his last three appearances for club and country.
Predicted Arsenal XI : Raya; Mosquera, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Zubimendi, Rice; Madueke, Odegaard, Trossard; Gyokeres
Injured: Merino, Saka, Timber, Hincapie, Eze
Time and date: 8pm BST on Tuesday, April 7, 2026
How to watch: Amazon Prime Video
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Source: This article was originally published by Evening Standard
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