Get ready for the return leg of the Europa League Round of 16 between Arsenal and Sporting CP. This should be an interesting match and this preview contains everything you need to know. Read on!
It's quite the trip for Sporting CP when visiting Arsenal as the cities are 2100 kilometers apart.
It's no vacation for neither Arsenal nor Sporting CP as both were in action only a few days ago. Expect some tired legs on the pitch and/or possibly some changes to the lineups.
Arsenal form and stats
Arsenal participated in Europa League the last season, where they reached the semi-finals and lost against Villarreal.The home supporters can't complain about results here at Emirates Stadium as Arsenal have scored 34 goals to get 32 points from 13 games. The overall stats in the Premier League are 10-2-1 (wins-draws-losses). This match is a Europa League match, and the hometeam has the total statistics 5 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss in this competition.
Arsenal are returning here after visiting Fulham and winning with a 3-0 scoreline. Magalhães, Ødegaard and Martinelli scored the goal(s). The 3-0 win against Fulham was decided after a strong and deadly first half, making the second half more of a journey towards the final whistle. The gifted forward Trossard edged out all the other players in that fixture and got a match rating of 8.82 out of 10. Trossard signed up for three assists, hit four key passes and dribled past the opponent 1 of 1 times.
In the fixture before, 2-2 away to Sporting CP (Europa League). Arsenal are believed to win this game, given a winning chance of about 70% by the bookmakers. We have checked our records for their performance in similar circumstances and found 7 matches and the win/draw/lost stats: Won 6, drew 1 and lost 0.
Some members of the home team might already be thinking of their next match, the Premier League game versus Crystal Palace in only three days. This game is also played here at Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal are an "over 2,5 goals" team alone here at Emirates Stadium in their league games, having scored an impressive 34 goals in 13 matches. Arsenal's goalkeeper has had to pick the ball out of their own net 16 times. For more goal stats, check the Statistics tab above. There's been improvement defensively lately, as only 0 of these goals has been conceded in their last three home matches.
Sporting CP form and stats
Sporting CP was sent out of Champions League in the group stage last season.6 wins, 2 draws and 4 losses. That’s the product of Sporting CP playing as the away team in the Liga Portugal this season. When we have look at the Europa League statistics, we find 1W-2D-0L. This is both home and away.
270 minutes! That's how long the Sporting CP goalkeeper Antonio Adan Garrido and his defense have shut out their league opponents.
Santos and Paulinho scored in Sporting CP's previous match, the home game against Boavista that ended 3-0. A victory against Boavista as mentioned above, but the margin of victory could have been bigger as Sporting CP hit the posts three times. Midfield player Santos was the top player of the team with a match rating of 8.45/10. Santos scored one goal, hit two key passes, dribled past the opponent 1 of 2 times and had 53 successful passes (of 60 total).
Preceding that, 2-2 at home hosting Arsenal in the Europa League.
Sporting CP have scored 17 goals on their travels this season, from 12 away games in the league. Sporting CP have conceded 16 goals in these away matches.
Head 2 Head
The squads have met each other already this season, with the match result Sporting CP - Arsenal 2-2 written in the official records. Arsenal-Sporting CP H2H statistics last three meetings regardless of arena: Arsenal one win, Sporting CP zero wins, two draws. one of these three matches had three or more goals (over 2,5).
Top Goalscorers
  G. Martinelli Silva 12 goals |   P. Pereira Gonçalves 12 goals |  M. Ødegaard 10 goals |
Arsenal missing players
Sporting CP missing players
| Arsenal | Sporting CP | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 13 | Played | P | 11 | 25 | ||
| 16 | 8 | Won | W | 7 | 16 | ||
| 3 | 2 | Drew | D | 2 | 4 | ||
| 6 | 3 | Lost | L | 2 | 5 | ||
| 49 | 27 | Scored | S | 18 | 57 | ||
| 25 | 15 | Conceded | C | 9 | 19 | ||
| 96% | 92% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 100% | ||
| 76% | 85% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 64% | 84% | ||
| 56% | 69% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 45% | 64% | ||
| 40% | 54% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 27% | 32% | ||
| 20% | 23% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 9% | 20% | ||
| 40% | 54% | BTTS | BTTS | 45% | 40% | ||
| 44% | 38% | Clean Sheets | C S | 36% | 48% | ||
| 20% | 15% | Failed to Score | F T | 18% | 12% | ||
| 6.8 | 7.4 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 5.6 | 6 | ||
| 3.7 | 3.8 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 4.6 | 4.2 | ||
| 1.3 | 0.9 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 3.3 | 2.6 | ||
| 0 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 2 | ||
| 16.1 | 18.2 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 14.9 | 15.2 | ||
| 4.5 | 4.7 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 5.9 | 5.9 | ||
| 44% | 44% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 28% | 39% | ||
| 8.4 | 7.6 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 9.9 | 8 | ||
| 3.5 | 3.2 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 3.9 | 3.1 | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Arsenal | 27 | 21 | 3 | 3 | 62 | 25 | 13 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 34 | 16 | 14 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 28 | 9 | 37 | 66 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 27 | 19 | 4 | 4 | 67 | 25 | 13 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 43 | 13 | 14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 24 | 12 | 42 | 61 |
| 3 | Manchester United | 26 | 15 | 5 | 6 | 41 | 35 | 13 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 24 | 8 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 17 | 27 | 6 | 50 |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 27 | 15 | 3 | 9 | 49 | 37 | 14 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 29 | 16 | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 20 | 21 | 12 | 48 |
| 5 | Newcastle United | 25 | 11 | 11 | 3 | 37 | 18 | 13 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 21 | 9 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 16 | 9 | 19 | 44 |
| 6 | Liverpool | 26 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 47 | 29 | 13 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 34 | 9 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 20 | 18 | 42 |
| 7 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 24 | 11 | 6 | 7 | 45 | 31 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 21 | 11 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 24 | 20 | 14 | 39 |
| 8 | Fulham | 27 | 11 | 6 | 10 | 38 | 37 | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 21 | 20 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 17 | 17 | 1 | 39 |
| 9 | Brentford | 25 | 9 | 11 | 5 | 40 | 33 | 13 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 27 | 13 | 12 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 13 | 20 | 7 | 38 |
| 10 | Chelsea | 26 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 27 | 26 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 8 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 13 | 18 | 1 | 37 |
| 11 | Aston Villa | 26 | 10 | 5 | 11 | 32 | 39 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 20 | 19 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 20 | -7 | 35 |
| 12 | Crystal Palace | 26 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 21 | 33 | 14 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 18 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 15 | -12 | 27 |
| 13 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 27 | 7 | 6 | 14 | 20 | 37 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 15 | 14 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 22 | -17 | 27 |
| 14 | Nottingham Forest | 26 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 21 | 47 | 13 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 4 | 32 | -26 | 26 |
| 15 | Everton | 27 | 6 | 7 | 14 | 20 | 38 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 16 | 13 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 22 | -18 | 25 |
| 16 | Leicester City | 26 | 7 | 3 | 16 | 37 | 46 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 16 | 17 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 21 | 29 | -9 | 24 |
| 17 | West Ham United | 26 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 24 | 34 | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 17 | 14 | 13 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 7 | 20 | -10 | 24 |
| 18 | AFC Bournemouth | 26 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 25 | 51 | 13 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 16 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 12 | 35 | -26 | 24 |
| 19 | Leeds United | 26 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 31 | 42 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 18 | 18 | 13 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 13 | 24 | -11 | 23 |
| 20 | Southampton | 26 | 6 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 41 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 19 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 9 | 22 | -21 | 22 |
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Benfica | 24 | 21 | 2 | 1 | 61 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 9 | 12 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 24 | 4 | 48 | 65 |
| 2 | Porto | 24 | 18 | 3 | 3 | 55 | 17 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 35 | 9 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 20 | 8 | 38 | 57 |
| 3 | Sporting Braga | 24 | 18 | 1 | 5 | 54 | 22 | 11 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 23 | 6 | 13 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 31 | 16 | 32 | 55 |
| 4 | Sporting CP | 24 | 16 | 2 | 6 | 49 | 23 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 32 | 7 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 17 | 16 | 26 | 50 |
| 5 | Vitoria Guimaraes | 24 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 24 | 24 | 13 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 10 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 14 | 0 | 40 |
| 6 | Arouca | 24 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 28 | 31 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 10 | 16 | -3 | 37 |
| 7 | Casa Pia | 23 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 20 | 23 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 14 | -3 | 35 |
| 8 | Rio Ave | 24 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 23 | 28 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 14 | 9 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 19 | -5 | 30 |
| 9 | Boavista | 24 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 27 | 38 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 12 | 23 | -11 | 30 |
| 10 | Vizela | 24 | 8 | 5 | 11 | 26 | 27 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 14 | 14 | -1 | 29 |
| 11 | Gil Vicente | 24 | 8 | 5 | 11 | 26 | 31 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 15 | 20 | -5 | 29 |
| 12 | Chaves | 24 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 24 | 31 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 14 | 15 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 16 | -7 | 29 |
| 13 | Famalicao | 23 | 8 | 3 | 12 | 22 | 31 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 9 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 22 | -9 | 27 |
| 14 | Portimonense | 24 | 8 | 2 | 14 | 18 | 31 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 8 | 20 | -13 | 26 |
| 15 | Estoril | 24 | 6 | 4 | 14 | 21 | 37 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 20 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 17 | -16 | 22 |
| 16 | Maritimo | 24 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 17 | 45 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 10 | 16 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 29 | -28 | 16 |
| 17 | Pacos de Ferreira | 24 | 4 | 3 | 17 | 18 | 42 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 23 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 19 | -24 | 15 |
| 18 | Santa Clara | 24 | 3 | 6 | 15 | 17 | 36 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 13 | 23 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 13 | -19 | 15 |
