Sporting Lisbon face Arsenal in the Champions League on Tuesday night. Sporting have had a busy few weeks in the media for a plethora of reasons, including their incredible 4-1 defeat of Manchester City in the last round. They have also lost their highly rated manager Ruben Amorim to Manchester United, who managed his first game vs Ipswich at the weekend.
Despite being in terrific form, Ruben Amorim’s departure is bound to be a huge blow to the Portuguese side. Their opponents in Arsenal is a resolute, very tough side to beat. Mikel Arteta’s men have proven this domestically, but also in this competition. Arsenal go into this game after a fantastic display vs Nottingham Forest at the weekend, with a very convincing 3-0 victory. Arsenal have been tough to beat in the ‘bigger’ games this season against tougher opposition and Sporting Lisbon certainly fall into this category. The Gunners have avoided defeat in games against Tottenham, Manchester City, PSG, Liverpool, and Chelsea this season. Showing they can arise to the occasion in a game of this standard.
In the Champions League, Arsenal have lost on just 1 occasion and have kept a clean sheet in 3/4 games in this competition. Away from home we have often seen this season that Arteta sets his side up to be defensively sound which is likely to reduce the threat of the Sporting Lisbon attack. They have conceded just 6 shots on target in this competition indicating that they do not concede many big chances.
Arsenal have seen Under 3.5 goals in 4/4 games in this competition whilst Sporting Lisbon have seen Under 3.5 goals in 3/4 games. Arsenal have lost just 3 of 18 games in all competitions this season.
TIP: Arsenal Double Chance & Under 3.5 Match Goals @ 1.90 (Bet365)
