What to expect from Sporting CP
And how Arsenal could respond
‘Is Rúben Amorim the next José Mourinho?’ is the title of a Tifo Football video from just under a year ago. So, is he?
The comparison is an obvious one: Amorim is Portuguese and he was coaching in the Portguese top flight with Braga at the age of 34. He did well enough there, winning a cupu, to take over at Sporting CP, one of the country’s big three clubs, at 35 and he led them to a league title (their first in 19 years) in his second season. Plus all that success was built upon a solid defence.
But that’s where the Mourinho parallels end.
The Sporting coach has been firmly wedded to a 3-4-3 since taking over at the club and he looks to dominate possession. Sporting tend to play out from the back slowly and patiently, moving the ball around to tempt in the opposition. As they move upfield, there is a heavy focus on doubling up out wide — creative wide forwards Marcus Edwards and Francisco Trincão will drift inside, looking to operate in pockets opened up as attack-minded wingbacks stretch the opposition backline — forcing defenders into situations where they have to choose who to leave free.
One of the tests for Arsenal will be deciding how to deal with the issues posed by a five-man frontline when Sporting get forward. At times this season, like at Tottenham, Mikel Arteta has had Bukayo Saka drop back alongside Ben White so Arsenal almost end up defending in a back five.
This shape could help Arsenal defensively if Sporting can maintain possession but really we should hope to see the team dominate the ball as Thursday’s hosts have failed to translate the success of their preferred style into a viable approach in Europe. Sporting have had over 50% possession in all but one league game this season and have completed at least 79% of their passes in all but two. In the Champions League, they didn’t crack either of those numbers in four of their six group stage matches.
In those four games they picked up just one point but they won all six in the two games they did manage to dominate possession, at home against Tottenham and away at Frankfurt.
Defensively, Sporting sit in a 5-2-3 shape, looking to block the middle of the pitch and force the opposition wide. For Arsenal, this could mean chances to find their wingers early as they prefer to anyway.
Domestically Sporting press high and are combative in midfield but the former has been dialled down in Europe and the latter will be compromised in the first leg because of a suspension being served by midfielder Manuel Ugarte.
Despite Sporting’s possessional domination in the league — they have had under 50% of the ball in just one league game and at least 60% possession in 17 of 23 outings — Ugarte has still managed to attempt more tackles (4.5 per 90) than any other player in the league so far this season. For the sake of comparison, no player in the Premier League with over 500 minutes played this season tackles as often.
Without him, Sporting will have to either find a makeshift option or play attack-minded midfielder Pedro Gonçalves (Pote), the man who replaced Bruno Fernandes, in a deeper role.
If they do go with that solution, they risk losing some of his goal threat as well as looking a little weaker in midfield — Gonçalves is a huge goal threat. He scored 21 non-penalty goals in their league-winning 2020-21 campaign, another seven last season, and is already up to seven again this season as well. Either that goal threat will be dampened by playing him deeper or Sporting will leave gaps in midfield for Arsenal to exploit.
Sporting are not a side that should be taken lightly, especially if they decide to sit back and Arsenal’s recent problems against deep blocks continue. With the some attacking players missing, that isn’t out of the question.
But this is not the same Sporting that won the league a couple of years ago. They have lost crucial players in recent windows — Nuno Mendes (PSG), Matheus Nunes (Wolves), João Palhinha (Fulham), Pedro Porro (Tottenham) — and even their superb academy can’t keep churning out enough players to make up for it. Especially with Ugarte banned for the leg in Lisbon, Arsenal have a great chance to head into the second leg with a lead.