Arsenal vs Sporting Lisbon

Emirates Stadium forms the backdrop for the second leg of an evenly-poised Europa League round-of-16 tie between Arsenal and Sporting Lisbon.

A topsy-turvy 2-2 first-leg draw in Portugal leaves a place in the Europa League quarter-finals open for the taking as Arsenal bid to maintain their high-flying six-match form in all competitions (W5, D1), bookended by an outrageous 3-0 Premier League triumph at Fulham last weekend. The home side’s eye-catching spell of form inspires confidence in Mikel Arteta’s camp as they hope to cut short an underwhelming three-game winless streak in European knockout matches at the Emirates (D2, L1). But if you’re looking for an omen, Arsenal’s last such victory came versus Portuguese opposition, while they’ve won back-to-back competitive home outings in the run-up to this clash by an aggregate score of 7-2. Moreover, the ‘Gunners’ have only lost one of their nine European home encounters against Primeira Liga visitors (W7, D1).

On the other hand, visiting Sporting Lisbon could reach the quarter-finals of a major European competition for the first time since the 2017/18 Europa League season. Inspired by a seven-match unbeaten run in all competitions (W5, D2), Ruben Amorim’s charges are keen to defy an unwanted piece of history. ‘Los Leoes’ have suffered eliminations 21 times in 22 European two-legged knockout ties after failing to win the first leg at home. On top of that, they’re winless in their last nine European away games against English opposition (D4, L5), though they did hold Tottenham Hotspur to a 1-1 draw in this season’s Champions League group stages. Yet an astounding run of five straight competitive away wins suggests they could go one better in North London this time around.