Arsenal vs Sporting – Betting Preview
Thursday’s second leg of the UEFA Europa League round of 16 match between Sporting and Arsenal will take place at the Emirates Stadium. The first leg of this match-up between the two teams ended in a 2-2 draw in Lisbon, hence the victor of this one advances to the next round!
Sporting received goals from Goncalo Inacio and Paulinho, while Arsenal scored two significant goals in the first leg thanks to goals from Hidemasa Morita and William Saliba in the first half and a header from Saliba in the second.
Arsenal Preview
In the first leg, the Gunners started with a backup team. In that game, they were not at their most effective, and they were only able to play out a draw thanks to an own goal in the second half.
We anticipate manager Mikel Arteta to start his first-team players because advancement to the following round is at risk in this game. They have only lost a few games at home across all sports, so they should be able to deliver a great performance.
Arsenal’s trophy hunt received an enormous boost at the weekend with the return of Gabriel Jesus, who came off the bench at Fulham. It’s likely he continues his comeback with another cameo on Thursday.
Oddly enough, on Sunday both teams won 3-0 in league contests. At home in the Primeira Liga, Sporting defeated Boavista, but in their away game, Arsenal easily dispatched Fulham.
Gabriel Magalhães, Martin Ødegaard, and Gabriel Martinelli were on the scoresheet in the first half as Leandro Trossard bagged a hat-trick of assists.
Sporting Preview
Like the Gunners, Sporting are in flying form, with their latest league win also a 3-0 win, against Boavista. Mitdjylland were swatted aside 4-0 in the Europa play off round too, which brought them to this tie with Arsenal.
Lees have won six of their previous seven road games and have only lost once while travelling in 2023. In the first leg against Arsenal, they scored their first goal, and they’ll be hoping to keep up the momentum.
Nonetheless, Arsenal have a 100% record at home in the Europa League this season!
1×2 Betting Odds
Let’s begin analysing the 1×2 market
Even with some rotation and their eyes firmly on the Premier League title, the Gunners should have too much for Sporting, particularly at home.
The home side to win this leg at the Emirates stands @ 1.41.
Sporting are in some fine form themselves, but their market odds of winning here makes them the underdogs @ 9.10.
The market odds of a yet another stalemate stands @ 5.52.
Total goals over/under
Let’s check the over/under scenario
The odds that the total number of goals scored will be over 2.5, stands @ 1.74.
While the odds that the total number of goals will be under 2.5, stands @ 2.29.
Both these teams have attacking players at their disposal who are not shy from scoring goals, as was evident from the first leg.
So even in this one expect a similar scoring pattern to follow, with Arsenal favourites to win!
