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He was born in Enfield and left Tottenham without making a Premier League appearance - now Marcus Edwards is looking to down Arsenal.

The 24-year-old English winger has made an impact since joining Sporting Lisbon in January 2022.

He has scored eight times this season - including one against his old club Spurs in the Champions League.

As a teenager at Tottenham in 2016, Edwards was compared to Lionel Messi.

"His qualities… it's only looks - his body and the way that he plays - remember a little bit from the beginning of Messi," said then Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino.

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There was a chance Arsenal could see a familiar face in the Sporting Lisbon side.

But defender Hector Bellerin, who won three FA Cups during 10 years with the Gunners, is not involved.

He moved to Lisbon from Barcelona at the end of January.

"I’m privileged to have played in the same squad as Hector for three seasons, wearing the Arsenal shirt and sharing many great moments on and off the football pitch together," said Mikel Arteta when the Spanish full-back left Arsenal for Barca in September 2022.

Alex Bysouth
BBC Sport reporter

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For a club whose philosophy dictates a focus on their immediate surroundings, the seeds of knowledge sown at Real Sociedad are spreading to such an extent a quarter of Premier League managers can now claim to have experienced the charm of the Gipuzkoa province.

Mikel Arteta, who was born in San Sebastian and dreamed of playing for La Real as a kid, had a short spell with the club and his Arsenal side are now perhaps one of the finest examples of the patience and perseverance championed at the Basque outfit.

New Leeds manager Javi Gracia, Wolves' Julen Lopetegui and Unai Emery at Aston Villa are the other Premier League bosses to have played for the club and, while the only one to manage the La Liga side was West Ham's Scottish boss David Moyes, the footballing wisdom exuded at their Anoeta home is contagious.

Read more here.

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David Moyes believes it would be "a great achievement" if West Ham could reach a European quarter-final for the second successive year.

Last season they were knocked out in the semi-finals of the Europa League by Eintracht Frankfurt.

"We've got a job to do to try to reach the quarter-finals at the moment," said Moyes.

"It would be a great achievement if West Ham could talk about being in the quarter-finals of two European competitions back-to-back."

Arsenal

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So a big night for Jakub Kiwior who makes his senior debut for Arsenal.

He was signed in January from Serie A side Spezia for 20m euros (£17.6m) on a deal running until 2027.

The Poland defender, 22, offers much-needed support for Mikel Arteta's squad in their title push. Kiwior matches the profile of player the club have set out to to sign.

He has won nine caps for Poland and started all four of their matches at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

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A former Accrington Stanley defender and an ex-Portsmouth fan favourite are among the English exports set to feature for foreign clubs when the Europa League last 16 kicks off tonight.

Elsewhere, a former Tottenham youth winger faces Spurs' fiercest rivals and two players on the periphery of Gareth Southgate's England squad are looking to help Jose Mourinho lift another European trophy.

Read more here.

Manchester United will be without midfielder Marcel Sabitzer and striker Anthony Martial.

Sabitzer came off the bench in Sunday's defeat at Liverpool but has been ruled out of the European tie.

Martial has been out for over a month and is back in training but not yet ready to return to first-team action.

Midfielders Christian Eriksen and Donny van de Beek are long-term absentees.

Real Betis are without star forward Nabil Fekir, who has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.

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West Ham's European campaign has gone very smoothly so far this season.

They progressed from the group stages of the Europa Conference League with a 100% record, winning all six matches.

They were the best performing side in the competition, scoring 13 goals and conceding four in the process.

Only Villarreal scored more, while only Istanbul Basaksehir conceded less. No other team won all six matches.

Opponents AEK Larnaca came through the play-offs, beating SC Dnipro-1 of Ukraine 1-0 on aggregate.

AEK finished runners-up in the Cypriot First Division last season and have already played 14 matches in Europe this season.

AEK Larnaca are without the suspended Angel Garcia and Pere Pons so Nicolas Englezou comes in to captain the side while Rafail Mamas starts in midfield.

There is also no place in the starting XI for veteran forward Ivan Trickovski, who scored a hat-trick in the 3-1 win over Enosis Neon Paralimniou in the Cypriot top flight last weekend.

AEK Larnaca XI: Piric, Tomovic, Casas, Milicevic, Englezou,, Sanjurjo, Ledes, Rosales, Jakolis, Mamas, Lopes.

Subs: Toumpas, Stylianidis, Gonzalez, Trickovski,Faraj, Christoforou, Naoum, H Andreou, Altman, Nikolic.

West Ham boss Davis Moyes makes wholesale changes to the side that started the 4-0 loss to Brighton in the Premier League last weekend.

Only Alphonse Areola, Nayef Aguerd, Declan Rice and Said Benrahma retain their places with the likes of Tilo Kehrer, Aaron Cresswell and Kurt Zouma coming into defence, Pablo Fornals Manuel Lanzini and Flynn Downes, starting in midfield and Michail Antonio up front.

West Ham XI: Areola, Kehrer, Zouma, Aguerd, Cresswell, Downes, Rice, Benrahma, Lanzini, Fornals, Antonio.

Subs: Johnson, Scamacca, Paqueta, Cornet, Ings, Bowen, Ogbonna, Soucek, Emerson, Hegyi, Anang.

Six changes for Arsenal from the side that started the last-gasp win against Bournemouth last weekend. There is a first start since 9 November for Reiss Nelson while Poland defender Jakub Kiwior makes his first start for the club.

Granit Xhaka captain's the side and there are starts for Jorginho, Ben White and keeper Matt Turner.

There were rumours Gabriel Jesus could be involved after returning to training. It's not happening tonight.

Arsenal XI: Turner, Zinchenko, Kiwior, Saliba, White, Xhaka, Jorginho, Vieira, Nelson, Martinelli, Saka.

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Sporting Lisbon's starting XI includes Enfield-born winger Marcus Edwards and former Liverpool defender Sebastian Coates.

Former Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin is not involved. Francisco Trincao, who was on loan at Wolves last season, starts.

Sporting Lisbon XI: Adan, Inacio, Coates, St. Juste, Reis, Pote, Morita, Esgaio, Edwards, Trincao, Paulinho.

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Premier League leaders Arsenal are in a strong position this season and go into tonight's last-16 Europa League tie against Sporting Lisbon having won five of their six group matches.

Their only group game defeat - a 2-0 loss to PSV Eindhoven - came back in October.

Sporting Lisbon beat Danish club Midtjylland 5-1 in their play-off after they finished third in their Champions League group.

Meanwhile, Manchester United finished second in their group on goal difference, also winning five of their six matches.

Opponents Real Betis ended the group stage with the best record in the competition, winning five and drawing one of their matches.

Elsewhere tonight, six-time winners Sevilla meet Fenerbahce, while Jose Mourinho's Roma play Real Sociedad - who topped Manchester United's group.

Gabriel Martinelli does start.

Matt Turner, Jakub Kiwior and Reiss Nelson are also among the starters for Arsenal. No place for Gabriel Jesus on the bench.

Ex-Spurs midfielder Marcus Edwards starts for the hosts. Full team news to follow.

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Arsenal put up this fella at their pre-match news conference on Wednesday. But with a crucial game at Fulham on Sunday (14:00 GMT), does Mikel Arteta risk Gabriel Martinelli for this match?

Martinelli has scored more Premier League goals than anyone else in the squad - 11 - for the leaders, who are chasing an historic first league title for 19 years.

Will Reiss Nelson start for the first time in four months after his last-gasp winner and assist against Bournemouth? How many does Arteta rest before the trip to Craven Cottage?

Team news dropping any second at the Estadio Jose Alvalade.

Europa League:

• Sporting Lisbon v Arsenal - 17:45 GMT
• Manchester United v Real Betis - 20:00 GMT

Europa Conference League:

• AEK Larnaca v West Ham - 17:45 GMT

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Premier League leaders Arsenal are back in action tonight as they hope to take a step closer to the Europa League quarter-finals.

They face Sporting Lisbon in Portugal, before Manchester United host Real Betis in their first leg, needing a response from Sunday's devastating 7-0 loss to rivals Liverpool.

West Ham are on the road, taking on AEK Larnaca in Cyprus for the first leg of their Europa Conference League last-16 tie.

The likes of Roma, Sevilla and Juventus are also playing on a busy evening. Stick with us for all the updates...