Sporting Lisbon vs Arsenal – Thursday, 5:45pm
Date, KO time and TV coverage
Europa League, round of 16, 1st leg: Thursday, March 9, Kick-off 5.45pm, live on BT Sport
Predicted score
Suggested bets
- Arsenal to beat Sporting – 11/10
- Sporting Lisbon vs Arsenal BTTS, yes – 4/5
- Sporting Lisbon vs Arsenal over 2.5 goals – 20/21
*Prices subject to fluctuation.
Key stats
- Arsenal have won seven of their last nine away from home in all competitions
- Arsenal have scored at least one goal for six consecutive matches
- Sporting have lost just one of their last eight games in all competitions
- Sporting Lisbon score on average 2.36 goals when playing at home and Arsenal score 1.7 goals when playing away
Previous meetings
- EL: Arsenal 0-0 Sporting Lisbon, November 2018.
- EL: Sporting Lisbon 0-1 Arsenal, October 2018
Team news
Manuel Ugarte will miss Thursday’s game through suspension. Daniel Braganca is still recovering from a ruptured cruciate ligament so Mateo Tanlongo should come in for a start alongside Hidemasa Morita in central midfield.
Leandro Trossard (groin) was subbed vs Bournemouth and looks set to miss out along with Mohamed Elneny and Gabriel Jesus. Eddie Nketiah’s ankle problem is likely to keep him sidelined again.
Gabriel Martinelli should start as the number nine and Emile Smith-Rowe could get a start. Matt Turner, Jorginho and Kieran Tierney will all be pushing for starts as Mikel Arteta rotates his squad.
Recent form
- Sporting defeated Portimonese 1-0 away from home last time out
- Sporting are on a four-match winning run
- Sporting have won just one of their last five at home
- Arsenal have won their last four PL games
- Arsenal came from 2-0 down to defeat Bournemouth 3-2 last time out
What has been said?
Rúben Amorim after the 1-0 win over Portimonese: “We were the better side and attacked and defended well. We created many chances and we didn’t let Portimonense SC create many of their own. That’s what I like most about games: Seeing my team play at the level they are capable of.
“We should have scored more goals, but it was a fair victory for a team that always believed. It was important not to concede goals again and not to let Portimonense SC create great chances. We always controlled the game very well.”
Asked what his feelings were after the 3-2 win over Bournemouth, Mikel Arteta said: “Overwhelmed, I would say.”
“The way the game started, we conceded a goal after nine seconds. We tried and tried and didn’t score a goal, and then we conceded from a set-play and it looked like it wasn’t our day. But we had a lot of discipline, a lot of courage to continue to play.
“There were a lot of players that stepped up to a level that I have never seen before, especially in difficult moments. The subs made a huge, huge impact.”
Sporting Lisbon vs Arsenal Verdict
Sporting are in good form domestically, although their hopes of repeating their title triumph in 2020/21 appear slim with Benfica leading the charge in Primeira Liga.
Sporting are 15 points off the pace, but they are in decent form, winning their last four games in all competitions, including a 4-0 win in the previous round at FC Midtjylland. And from a closer look at their form, it transpires that they have been more impressive away from home.
They only managed to win one of their previous four home ties in Europe this season – a 2-0 win over Tottenham. Home defeats to Marseille and Eintracht Frankfurt followed, while they needed a late leveller at home to Midtjylland in the home leg last month.
Second-placed Porto also turned them over last month and Ruben Anorim’s men do look to struggle against better teams, especially at home. While we would stop short of describing them as flat-track bullies, they do tend to do their winning against teams of perceived lower level.
Arsenal are certainly not that and continue to lead the Premier League. Arsenal have won in Zurich and at Bodo/Glimt in this season’s competition but did get rolled over by PSV.
Still their domestic record away from home is superb, with 10 wins from 13 games and they will have no thoughts of waiting for the home leg to get the tie won.
Mikel Arteta will likely make a few tweaks to his side, but they will be in defence with his attacking options threadbare. Still, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli lining up in a three-man frontline should help Arsenal to a first-leg advantage. And there may well be a few goals with the hosts, like Arsenal, preferring an attacking style of play.
