Sporting vs. Arsenal: Preview and betting tips

Arsenal are also entering the first leg of the Europa League play-offs, but their focus is on the Premier League, where they are well on their way to the title. But Mikel Arteta certainly won’t want to let this competition go, at least for now. So will we see the Gunners at full strength against Sporting?

It already seemed that Arsenal ran out of breath at the end of January when they lost to Manchester City, then also to Everton, followed by a draw with Brentford and another loss to the Citizens.

But the London team managed to shake it off and win the next 4 games, scoring 12 goals. On the other hand, they scored 2 goals in 2 of those 4 games and had to turn the games against Aston Villa and Bournemouth. But a bit of luck belongs to football and so the Gunners are riding a wave of euphoria.

Sporting are slowly returning to form after a wild start to this season, but they are still only 4th in the domestic league. They are 7 points behind second placed Porto, who they have lost to three times this season, while they are 3rd. Braga by 5 points.

Two teams that definitely like to keep the ball on their feet will clash. Both teams traditionally keep their stats around 60%, only in Sporting’s case in the Champions League has that figure dropped to 45%. The Frankfurt, Tottenham and Marseille teams have not allowed them more.

The word from the Arsenal camp is that they want to win the Europa League, but the English media generally expects at least a partial rotation of players.

Gabriel Jesus has already joined the squad and should be available for at least a few minutes. However, the trio of Kieran Tierney, Leandro Trossard and Eddie Nketiah have not travelled to Lisbon with the team. It is coach Rúben Amorim who will probably put the strongest he has on the pitch.

The two teams faced each other in the Champions League in the autumn of 2018, with Arsenal winning 1-0 in Portugal and the rematch at Emirates Stadium ending in a goalless draw. But back then, these teams were more evenly matched than they are today.

However, it will be very difficult to choose a suitable pick for this duel until the presentation of the starting eleven, which can look really anything. Considering the results of the last matches, goals can then be expected and the Over 2.5 at odds of 2.07 offers interesting value.

Source: UEFA, Whoscored