Mikel Arteta Includes Three Youngsters In His Arsenal Vs Porto UCL Squad

Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, has included three newbies in his UEFA Champions League round of 16 squad which will face Porto at 9 p.m. later tonight, February 21.

Porto and Arsenal are expected to give football enthusiasts a very balanced game in the first leg of the tie but coach Mikel Arteta is expected to leave Portugal with at least a point.

The Spanish tactician is not just looking at earning points during the game, he is looking at giving some of his youngsters a Champions League experience.

The youngsters Mikel Arteta added to his Champions League squad are Ethan Nwaneri, James Sweet, and Ayden Heaven.

Arteta had to do this due to the number of first-team players out injured or battling with different degrees of fitness issues.

The Spanish tactician is going into the Champions League game without Gabriel Jesus (knee), Oleksandr Zinchenko (calf), Takehiro Tomiyasu (knock), and long-term absentee Jurrien Timber.

The good news is that former Porto player, Fabio Vieira as well as Thomas Partey are available for Mikel Arteta ahead of the Champions League game.

While commenting on the game against Porto, Mikel Arteta said: “I’m really impressed with Porto, I know the manager (Sergio Conceicao) really well and the history that they have. They have a lot of experience in the competition, they have many qualities in many phases of play, that’s why they are always competitive in the European competitions.

“It’s a really tough opponent that we are going to face tomorrow, but at the same time, we are very excited. It’s been seven years that we haven’t been here and we are all full of energy and excitement to play the game we want to.”