Arsenal face a crunch tie in the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday night as they host Sporting CP in the second leg at the Emirates Stadium, with Mikel Arteta battling to save the season.
The Gunners were on course for a quadruple less than a month ago but have since lost the Carabao Cup final to Manchester City before being dumped out of the FA Cup by Championship outfit Southampton shortly after.
While they currently sit six points clear at the top of the Premier League table with six games to go, a defeat to Man City on Sunday will hand all the initiative in the title race to their rivals, potentially seeing the team spiral from utopia to disaster. But the Champions League has the opportunity to provide history, if the manager is brave.
Arsenal Have Chance to Claim Big Win
A late Kai Havertz goal in Lisbon helped the north London club to claim a 1-0 win on the road in the first leg, and help them put one foot into the semi-finals last week. However, the team have since fallen to a 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth at home, sparking serious concerns about the mentality of the team.
The Gunners will have the opportunity to bounce back from that at home, in front of their fans, by taking on the Portuguese champions once more and claiming a place in the semi-finals against Atletico Madrid.
But the attack has been misfiring for a while now, and if Arteta wants to ensure that the team have the best chance of winning, then he has to play the players who are currently making a difference in games, rather than the biggest and most established names.
With Bukayo Saka an injury doubt, Noni Madueke struggling for form, Gabriel Martinelli failing to make an impact, and Martin Odegaard absent, Arteta must be brave with his starting lineup and make the call to start young Max Dowman in the Champions League, despite his age.
Dowman Is Good Enough to Start
Dowman, described as ‘phenomenal’, has been one of the stories of the season, making his debut as a 15-year-old and becoming a regular in match-day squads under Arteta, playing in all competitions.
His ability to beat opposition players with the ball at his feet has been sublime, and it’s that type of quality that could be the difference between getting the crowd into the game to qualify for the next round, or struggling to break down a stubborn defence again and potentially crashing out of another tournament.
If you’re good enough, you’re old enough, and Dowman is certainly good enough. Declan Rice’s injury concern has dominated the build up to the game thus far, but even if he’s unavailable, the biggest decision Arteta must make is starting Dowman over his other big-name forwards.