Arsenal at risk of double Champions League suspension blow in Sporting Lisbon first leg

Arsenal will be at risk of losing both Martin Zubimendi and Christian Norgaard for the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final with Sporting Lisbon.

The Gunners strolled into the knockout rounds of the competition with a perfect league-phase record, before hitting their first bump in the road in a 1-1 draw with Bayer Leverkusen during their last-16 first leg.

Mikel Arteta's men responded in the ideal manner with a 2-0 home win to advance to the last eight, where Sporting await following their tremendous fightback against Bodo/Glimt in the last round.

The Portuguese side suffered a 3-0 first-leg loss before turning the tide with a phenomenal 5-0 second-leg victory, albeit one that came at a cost, as key midfielder Morten Hjulmand picked up a suspension-inducing yellow card.

The Denmark international will not be available for Tuesday's first leg, although if Zubimendi and Norgaard are not careful, they will be banned for the return fixture at the Emirates too.

Arsenal's Martin Zubimendi, Christian Norgaard one yellow card away from Champions League ban

Zubimendi has made a swift recovery from a knee injury that forced him to withdraw from the Spain squad during the international break, coming off the bench in Saturday's 2-1 FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Southampton.

However, the midfielder has already been booked four times in the Champions League this season - most recently in the Leverkusen first leg - and is one yellow card away from serving a second ban.

Players in the Champions League are suspended for one game when they pick up three yellow cards, and for every odd-numbered caution (fifth, seventh etc) after that, until the conclusion of the quarter-finals.

Zubimendi is therefore treading a tightrope for Tuesday evening, as is fellow number six Norgaard, who has been booked twice in the competition and will incur a ban if he picks up his third at the Estadio Jose Alvalade.

The Denmark international was given the nod at St Mary's in the FA Cup, but he is expected to drop down to the bench against Sporting as Zubimendi returns to the base of the midfield.

How could Arsenal line up without Martin Zubimendi or Christian Norgaard?

The hypothetical absences of both Zubimendi and Norgaard would deprive Arsenal of their two recognised number sixes, and force Arteta into a tactical reshuffle for the second leg.

Declan Rice would be the obvious candidate to drop into a deeper midfield role, and the England international was at least seen training on Tuesday as part of a triple injury boost for the Gunners.

However, Mikel Merino (foot) and Eberechi Eze (calf) are both sidelined for a number of weeks, so Arteta could be forced to start Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz either side of Rice, or risk an experimental midfield.

The Spaniard could alternatively use Max Dowman or Bukayo Saka in the right-sided midfield slot, or deploy Myles Lewis-Skelly as the left eight, which he planned to do against Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup before Riccardo Calafiori hurt himself in the warm-up.