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‘It’s great news’: Mikel Arteta confirms injury boost ahead of Sporting CP game

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed an injury boost ahead of the Champions League outing against Sporting Lisbon on the road tonight.

The Gunners have had a mixed run of performances since the October international break, but they were recently brilliant against Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.

The London giants scored three goals without reply and could have easily bagged more. Arteta will be hoping for a similar performance against the Portuguese champions.

In his pre-match presser, the Spaniard confirmed good news with Kieran Tierney back in the squad after his prolonged absence with a hamstring injury sustained at Euro 2024.

He said: “Everyone who is in the squad is fully fit to start the game. We have Kieran Tierney with us after a long injury. It’s great news that he is back, he’s been training with us and he is available to participate.”

Tierney was out-of-favour with the Gunners last season. He spent the 2023/24 campaign on loan with Real Sociedad where he was in-and-out of the team due to injuries.

The Scotland international was expected to leave the club last summer, but he picked up a serious hamstring injury against Germany which blocked his potential exit.

The £25 million signing has now travelled with the Gunners to Portugal after a successful recovery and it is left to be seen whether he makes an appearance off the bench.

Arsenal are well equipped in the left-back department. Riccardo Calafiori is a guaranteed starter.

Oleksandr Zinchenko, Jakub Kiwior and Myles Lewis-Skelly are back-up options alongside Tierney.

Tierney previously admitted that he has never played as an inverted left-back in his career and we won’t be surprised if he is shown the exit door at the turn of the year.

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