Arsenal vs Sporting CP prediction, odds, betting tips and best bets for Europa League second leg
Arsenal Sporting CP host Mikel Arteta has an important decision to make in Thursday’s Europa League round of 16 second leg.
The Gunners changed squads in Portugal last week, making six changes to their starting line-up and a lack of consistency played a key role in a sloppy 2-2 draw from which Arsenal were lucky to walk away with an equal aggregate result.
That leaves the entire matchup to play in the second leg and Arteta must now decide whether to use his regulars in the European game and risk their fitness or rest his key players again amid a hard-fought Premier League title fight.
Sporting CP, meanwhile, will know the task is tall as they try to defeat a strong Arsenal side in London, but the visitors have been buoyed by their solid form on goal lately. Since losing to rivals Porto on January 28, a run of 10 games in which at least one goal has been scored, the Portuguese side have not been excluded from a game across all competitions.
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Arsenal vs Sporting CP Odds
The Gunners are level with Sporting (2-2) in the standings but the Premier League club see themselves as heavy favorites both in the 90 minutes and going through. They hover around 1/3 to win the game in most places while Sporting sit as a huge 7/1 underdog.
While this may fall a little short for the Portuguese, it’s clear Arsenal deserved their podium as even the second choice was good enough for a first-leg draw.
There is some confusion over the course of this game as the betting market believes that it will be difficult for Sporting to find the shot on goal, but the total number of goals is still up to around 2/3.
| BetMGM (UNITED STATES) |
Sports interaction (Canada) |
SkyBet (UNITED KINGDOM) |
neds (Australia) |
Dafabet (India) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenal win | -275 | -303 | 1/3 | 1.33 | 1.38 |
| Pull | +400 | +397 | 19/5 | 4.80 | 5.40 |
| Sporting victory | +700 | +695 | 15/2 | 9.00 | 8.40 |
| Both teams to score Y/N |
+100 / -140 | -110 / +141 | 1.1., 11.8 | 1.95 / 1.75 | 2.02 / 1.80 |
| over under 2.5 goals |
-155 / +110 | -154 / +115 | 2/3, 11/10 | 1.64 / 2.15 | 1.71 / 2.20 |
| Advance Arsenal | -650 | -667 | 1/8 | 1.14 | 1.18 |
| Sporting advantage | +380 | +370 | 9/2 | 5.20 | 5.40 |
Arsenal vs Sporting: Three things to know
Here are the game facts, team news, key stats and trends to keep an eye on ahead of the game:
Arsenal vs Sporting game facts
- Date: Thursday March 16th
- kick-off time: 4pm ET / 8pm GMT / 7am AEDT (Fri, March 17)
- Location: Emirates Stadium (London, England)
- Officially: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (SPA)
- First leg: Sporting CP 2-2 Arsenal (9 March 2023)
Arsenal vs Sporting team news
Except for a knock on Eddie Nketiah and the long-term absence of Mohammed Elnenythere are no injury worries for Arsenal going into this game. Gabriel Jesus returned to action over the weekend and while it’s unclear if he’ll be startable, he’ll at least be available from the bench. Leandro Trossard also returned to the starting XI at the weekend as Mikel Arteta’s attacking options are again almost fully utilized. Arsenal players who will be banned with their next yellow card are among others Gabriel Martinelli And Kieran Tierney.
One of the key narratives of this game is the absence of key Sporting midfielders Sebastian Coates And Hidemasa Morita, who both caused yellow card suspensions with warnings in the first leg. But it will be sporty Manuel Ugarde back from his first-leg suspension. Former Arsenal full-back Hector Bellin will not play against his previous club after suffering a knee injury.
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Arsenal vs Sporting key stats
- Sporting’s two goals in the first leg were the first goals they had ever scored against Arsenal in five all-time encounters.
- Since losing 2-0 to PSV Eindhoven in the group stage, Arsenal have won three straight Europa League home games and kept clean sheets in all three.
- In both of Sporting’s European victories away from home (at Eintracht Frankfurt and at FC Midtjylland), they kept a clean sheet. In the two away games in which they conceded goals (at Marseille and at Tottenham), they could not win.
Arsenal vs Sporting Prediction
- Moneyline Lean: Armory (-275)
- Outcome Prediction: Arsenal 2-0 Sporting CP
Mikel Arteta took the chance to rest the starters in the first leg and walked away with a draw, but he will know this second leg isn’t the time to play with lineups.
The Arsenal boss should use his strongest XI and these players will manage to lead the Gunners to victory. Hinting at this, he said of the first leg: “We [were] missing four of our main attacking players and [still have] everything to play for now.” He knows that an early departure from Europe would be a sour note to spoil a promising season.
Arsenal vs Sporting best bet
- Choose: Under 2.5 goals
- Opportunities: +110 (BetMGM)
Last Thursday, five of the eight Europa League games and six of the seven Europa Conference League games went under the 2.5 goal total. These games can be low key as teams travel across the continent to play in unfamiliar locations and hostile environments.
Arsenal will know that even a Sporting goal complicates things enormously and so the Gunners will focus on defensive solidity first before moving forward. They will control the game with possession, knowing that the first goal of the game is crucial in deciding who advances. Sporting will press but without their captain it will be difficult to implement the game plan to full effect.
Arsenal vs Sporting Prop Bet
- Choose: Gabriel Jesus Arsenal’s first goalscorer
- Opportunities: +350 (BetMGM)
There has been a lot of talk about Gabriel Jesus not simply returning to Arsenal’s starting line-up. i don’t buy it That attack from the Gunners was good in his absence but it’s hard to see that the Brazilian isn’t a top pick up front with few other natural forwards in the squad. Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka will still see the field far out and Leandro Trossard will have plenty of other opportunities to spell out the three.
While the chances of Jesus scoring anytime are understandably slim considering he’s only first choice in front of the net, his chances of scoring Arsenal’s first goal are far more palatable. In the four Premier League games in which he scored before his injury, Jesus was Arsenal’s first goalscorer in two of them and was consistently there from the start.
Apparently, if Jesus does not start, do not place this bet until the starting lineup is announced. But when he does, this is a great game.
Arsenal vs Sporting Live Stream, TV Channel
MORE: Watch Premier League games live with fuboTV in US
| TV channel | stream | |
|---|---|---|
| USA | TUDN, Unimas | fuboTV, Paramount+ |
| Canada | — | DAZN |
| United Kingdom | BT sport 2 | BT sport |
| Australia | — | Stan sports |
| New Zealand | — | Spark sports |
| India | — | — |
| Hong Kong | beIN Sport 3 | beIN Sports Connect |
| Malaysia | beIN Sport 3 | beIN Sports Connect, sooka |
| Singapore | beIN Sport 3 | beIN Sports Connect, StarHub TV+ |