Thierry Henry makes Arsenal 'statement' as Sporting gameplan revealed

Gunners are licking their wounds after another defeat

The Gunners welcome the Portuguese giants to the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday evening, for the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final, holding a slender 1-0 advantage after Kai Havertz's injury-time goal last week.

That narrow Arsenal win came in the middle of two defeats, after Southampton had knocked Arsenal out of the FA Cup and before Bournemouth won at the Emirates Stadium in the Premier League.

And Henry believes those defeats, plus the Carabao Cup final loss to Manchester City, have given Sporting a clear gameplan for tonight's decider, meaning Arsenal must reassert themselves with a dominant victory.

"If you’re Sporting, if you see the way Man City played Arsenal and the way Bournemouth played Arsenal at the weekend, the way they put pressure in that 4-2-4 early doors, Arsenal didn’t have an answer on how to step out from that," Henry told CBS Sports.

"I don’t know what Sporting are going to do, but yes, it is very important for Arsenal to win the game. [They must] make sure they can prepare for the game we are all waiting for.

"Because for a very long time, I wasn’t even focusing on Bournemouth, even before Bournemouth winning I wasn’t focusing on that, I wanted that game.

"If I was a player, I want to win, I want to make a statement. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, but that’s what I’m waiting for."