Sporting CP vs Arsenal prediction: EUROPE: Champions League – League phase betting tips on match 2024-11-25 20:00.
[p]Life after Ruben Amorim started in emphatic fashion for Sporting CP on Friday night, as they ran out 6-0 winners against third-tier Amarante in domestic cup action. It’s fair to say the difficulty level will increase significantly for João Pereira’s second match at the helm as they meet English giants Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League (UCL), but the Lions are unlikely to be daunted given their unbeaten record in Europe this term (W3, D1).[/p]
[p]That includes a 4-1 thumping of reigning English champions Manchester City on matchday four, a result that forms part of a nine-match winning streak at the Estadio JosĂ© Alvalade that’s seen Sporting score an almighty 30 times in total. History suggests they’ll need every bit of confidence as they’re yet to beat Arsenal in regulation time across six previous H2H meetings in Europe (D4, L2) – they’ve never played a single opponent more on the continent without winning![/p]
[p]Arsenal were also victorious at the weekend, with their comprehensive 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest ending a three-match winless run across all competitions (D1, L2). That included a 1-0 loss to Inter on matchday four of the UCL, leaving the Gunners outside of the top-eight and with work to do to secure automatic passage to the last 16 (W2, D1, L1).[/p]
[p]Goals have been a particular problem for Arsenal in this competition, netting just three times in those four outings. That’s proved their undoing on the road specifically where they’ve failed to win each of their last five UCL matches (D2, L3) while failing to score in the last four – only one English side has ever blanked in five successive games in this competition.[/p]
[p]Key battle: Arguably world football’s leading marksman at present, Viktor Gyökeres stands on the brink of a piece of club history, as he’s already directly contributed to six UCL goals this term (G5, A1) and no Sporting player has ever managed more. Arsenal centre-back William Saliba faces a huge challenge to stifle the Swede, but he may have an eye looking forward too, having scored the opener on the Gunners’ last trip to this stadium.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: Each of the previous three Sporting managers failed to win their first UCL game in charge (D1, L2).[/p]
[p][i]Written by Ryan Fisher[/i][/p]