{"id":3375,"date":"2026-04-07T20:24:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T20:24:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/?p=3375"},"modified":"2026-04-07T20:24:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T20:24:30","slug":"i-wouldnt-be-surprised-if-he-did-make-the-starting-xi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/?p=3375","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t be surprised if he did make the starting XI&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"5150375\" data-slug-id=\"2763856\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/cmc-predictor\/v2\/cross-icon.png?w=40\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" alt=\"close\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Former Arsenal striker Alan Smith has named his replacement for the injured Bukayo Saka ahead of the Gunners&#8217; Champions League quarter-final. Mikel Arteta&#8217;s team face Sporting away from home in the first leg later tonight (Tuesday), and it has been confirmed that Saka and Jurrien Timber will miss the clash.<\/p>\n<p>Arsenal are in desperate need of a result after having lost back-to-back games in the Carabao Cup final and the FA Cup quarter-final. The losses have raised question marks against the Gunners&#8217; mentality. <\/p>\n<p><template id=\"template__newsletter-inline-banner-form-combo-widget\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<p><img id=\"subscribe-img\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Thanks for the submission!\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>Ahead of what promises to be an interesting fixture in Lisbon, Smith has weighed in on who should replace Saka in the starting line-up against Sporting. Talking about the prospect of Max Dowman being handed a starting role, Smith opined that the 16-year-old would not be unfazed. <\/p>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>Smith touched upon how Dowman will get a huge boost in confidence after his goal against Everton and admitted he wouldn&#8217;t be surprised to see the teenager in the starting XI against Sporting.<\/p>\n<p>Smith said on <em>Sky Sports News<\/em> (h\/t <em><a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2026\/04\/07\/alan-smith-backs-arsenal-star-shine-place-bukayo-saka-sporting-27886298\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">The Metro<\/a><\/em>)<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;If you put him in, you\u2019re not telling him to get you out of it (the slump). But I don\u2019t think he would have any fears about it because there\u2019s nothing that seems to faze the lad.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;What a moment that was against Everton. I don\u2019t think he needed a boost in confidence but his belief would have maybe doubled after that.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Look, Bukayo Saka isn\u2019t going to be fit so perhaps that position on the right-hand side is up for grabs and Dowman is well in the frame.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;I wouldn\u2019t be at all surprised if he did make the starting XI.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Notably, Arsenal have never beaten a Portuguese side away from home in knockout clash in Europe. It remains to be seen whether they can overcome that trouble tonight.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>Max Dowman thriving at Arsenal after headline act against Everton<\/h2>\n<p>Arsenal talent Max Dowman enjoyed an incredible outing against Everton last month. With the game locked at 0-0, Dowman came off the bench to provide the cross that eventually led to Viktor Gyokeres grabbing the equaliser in the 89th minute.<\/p>\n<p>The 16-year-old then became the youngest ever goalscorer in Premier League history as he sealed the win with a goal in the seventh minute of stoppage time.<\/p>\n<p>If not for Dowman&#8217;s exciting cameo off the bench, Arsenal would have surely dropped points in that game. Considering how their form has dipped in recent weeks, a draw in that game would have made the title race even more tighter. <\/p>\n<p>Arsenal will be hoping Dowman can step up whenever required as they aim to win a first Premier League title in over two decades, while also competing for a first-ever Champions League trophy.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\" title=\"like article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\" title=\"dislike article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Thank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tag-cloud\">\n<div class=\"tags-text\">\n<div class=\"scrollable-content-holder  article-padding\">\n<p class=\"article-p  \">Quick Links<\/p>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerLeft\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Left \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-left.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<nav id=\"pnProductNav\" class=\"pn-ProductNav\">\n<\/nav>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerRight\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Right \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-right.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<p>More from Sportskeeda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Nived Zenith<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former Arsenal striker Alan Smith has named his replacement for the injured Bukayo Saka ahead of the Gunners&#8217; Champions League quarter-final. Mikel Arteta&#8217;s team face Sporting away from home in the first leg later tonight (Tuesday), and it has been confirmed that Saka and Jurrien Timber will miss the clash. Arsenal are in desperate need [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}