Undoubtedly, Arsenal and manager Mikel Arteta's priority this season will be heaped on the success in the tantalising race for the Premier League title, with the north London outfit ahead of current champions Manchester City by five points after 27 matches.

However, having fallen in the early stages of both the FA Cup and Carabao Cup, the Gunners will be confident that the quality of the collective squad can allow a tenacious fight to advance into the latter stages of the Europa League, with the club currently at the halfway point of their two-legged last-16 tie against Portuguese side Sporting CP.

The respective clubs drew in an enthralling four-goal affair in Lisbon last week, with the Emirates now awaiting; Arteta will be confident that qualification to the next round will be completed, but the Gunners will indeed have to keep their wits about them when facing an offensively fluid and threatening outfit.

With this in mind, Arteta might not be inclined to unleash the full might of his regular starting 11, and as such, the best route to victory surely lies with Fabio Vieira receiving deployment from the offset.

Why should Vieira start against Sporting?

There was high hope for the exciting Portuguese play-maker when he signed for Arsenal from Porto for £34m, but the 22-year-old has not quite secured the unwavering trust of his manager in the Premier League, starting just two times in the English top-flight.

However, the ace has certainly offered glimpses of hope during his exploits, scoring two goals and providing six assists across all competitions, featuring from the opening in all seven of the Gunners' Europa League games thus far.

As per Sofascore, Vieira boasts an average rating of 7.19 across this European campaign, flourishing on the continental stage and completing 89% of his passes, also averaging two shots per game and 1.9 key passes.

Soccer Football - Europa League - Group A - Arsenal v Bodo/Glimt - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - October 6, 2022   Arsenal's Fabio Vieira celebrates scoring their third goal REUTERS/David Klein

The dynamo earning a match rating of 7.4 in the reverse fixture against the Leões, with the "special" star - as dubbed by correspondent Charles Watts - registering an assist with a looping cross for the charging William Saliba.

Making 67 touches, completing two key passes and all three of his long ball attempts, all while winning five of his 11 contested duels, Vieira forged a progressive, all-encompassing display to ensure a steady creative flow stemmed from the heart of Arteta's midfield.

Leandro Trossard has been in emphatic form for Arsenal since his £27m winter move from Brighton & Hove Albion, and Arteta might decide to offer the Belgian machine a rest on the bench on Thursday night, with Vieira the man who must be entrusted with a prominent role instead.

Using his aforementioned creative and direct output from the centre, the collective efforts of the squad would only be enhanced.

The £45k-per-week phenom has indeed been a regular for Arsenal in Europe this season, and given that he has been enterprising in his feats, Arteta and co must allow the graceful engine to maintain the Gunners' pursuit of silverware across multiple fronts.