Arsenal vs. Sporting Lisbon – UEL Preview and Scores

Match Preview

Arsenal welcome Sporting Lisbon to the Emirates with one leg already in the last 32. The Gunners have a 100 percent record in the Europa league after three games and are set to add three more points to their tally.

Team News

Arsenal

The Gunners have had it easy, blitzing past opponents in the last three games, having opened up with a 4-2 home win over Vorskla Poltava before beating Qarabag 3-0 and Sporting 1-0 on the competition.

They have also gone 14 games unbeaten in all competition and this has really helped their form. The last match was against Liverpool and it ended with both sides playing out a draw. Arsenal will feel they have morphed into a side that can challenge after the exit of former coach Arsene Wenger.

Unai Emery has won the europa league three times in the past and will be looking to channel his expertise to guide the Gunners to the final and possibly win the trophy.

Matteo Guendozi is back from suspension amd will play alongside Vranit Xhaka in midfield. Sokratis, Holding and Petr Cech are expected to keep their positions.

Arsenal possible starting eleven:

Cech; Lichsteiner, Holding, Sokratis, Kolasinac; Xhaka, Guendouzi; Iwobi, Ramsey, Welbeck; Aubameyang

Sporting Lisbon

The Portuguese side will most likely come second after Arsenal, even though they were defeated just two weeks ago by the london team. Having won two games from three, the team is in contention to qualify for the round of 32.

They have also featured in the Europa league seven times since it was started in 2009-2010. This will be a huge plus due to their experience in the competition. Last season they were dumped out of running by a rampaging Atletico Madrid side in the quarter finals and so they are keen to avoid the same upset this early in the competition.

Rodrigo Battaglia and Abdoulaye Diaby are still out injured but talisman Bas Dost is back into the team and Coach Marcel Keizer will definitely unleash him.

Sporting Lisbon possible starting eleven:

Ribeiro; Gaspar, Coates, Mathieu, Acuna; Gudelj, Petrovic; Nani, Fernandes, Cabral; Dost

Head To Head

Sporting have faced English clubs on 22 occasions, winning nine and losing 10, though they have won just twice in 11 visits to England and are winless in that last six of those.

The only time both teams have met in Europa league was last month in the first leg of this encounter with Arsenal winning 1-0.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *