Arsenal v Sporting preview: Tie finely poised after first-leg draw
The Gunners’ round-of-16 tie with Sporting Lisbon remains on a knife edge after a 2-2 draw in Lisbon last week, but with seven wins from nine home games against Portuguese clubs in European competition (D1, L1), Arsenal will hope they can tip the balance in their favour at the Emirates.
Further boosting Arsenal's belief that they can win a fourth successive UEL round-of-16 tie, Mikel Arteta’s side have won five of their last seven UEFA ties in which they drew the away leg first.
Despite that solid record after a first-leg stalemate, Arteta will undoubtedly be disappointed his side don’t hold an advantage, and after six changes to his starting XI left his side looking disjointed in Lisbon, expect a full-strength Arsenal from the beginning here.
The Gunners may well need to be at full strength to beat a Sporting side who have progressed from each of their previous six ties against English sides in the knockout stages of UEFA’s second-tier club competition.
Like Arsenal, Sporting are coming into this game buoyed by a 3-0 domestic win against Boavista at the weekend, and with their unbeaten run now standing at seven games (W5, D2), the 19-time Portuguese champions may fancy they can pull off an upset.
Sporting’s record against English sides is perhaps where they run into an issue on that front, as the Lions are winless in their last nine away games against English opposition in major European competition (D4, L5).
Their travelling record is equally uninspiring in the UEL knockout phase (W2, D5, L8), though they can perhaps take heart from the fact one of those triumphs came in their last such game - a 4-0 win against Midtjylland.
Players to watch: Just as he did at the weekend, Arsenal will be hoping Martin Ødegaard can find the target given the Gunners have won on all eight of his scoring appearances this season.
For the visitors, Pedro Gonçalves was at the double against Midtjylland in the last round and his last five scoring appearances have seen him net in the second half.
Hot streak: Arsenal are yet to concede a home UEL goal this term (W3).
