Champions League
2026-04-15 - Arsenal vs Sporting Lisbon
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: UEFA Champions League Quarter Final Second Leg
Wednesday 15th April 2026 - Kick Off 8pm
This game is live on TV
Arsenal
There is an absolutely huge game coming up for Arsenal in the Premier League next weekend after the very disappointing home defeat to Bournemouth, but they will have to take some care to avoid exiting the Champions League. A late goal last week in Lisbon means Arsenal return home with a lead, but any one goal advantage can be wiped out very quickly if Mikel Arteta's team are thinking ahead to the trip to the Etihad Stadium.
The Gunners have to take encouragement from the fact they have won all 5 home Champions League games played this season as they bid to reach the Semi Final of this competition for a second campaign in a row. They will also know that the onus may be on Sporting Lisbon in this Second Leg, but Arsenal have to show better intensity than they managed in the defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday.
Arsenal have lost 3 of the last 4 games in all competitions beginning with the League Cup Final defeat to Manchester City and there is little doubt this is a team that is wobbling. The defeat this past weekend also ended a run of 7 consecutive home wins for Arsenal in all competitions.
Riccardo Calafiori, Martin Odegaard, Jurrien Timber and Bukayo Saka are all doubts.
Sporting Lisbon
They will argue that they were the better team in the Champions League Quarter Final First Leg, but Sporting Lisbon have it all to do after conceding very late on. They did recover from a three goal First Leg defeat in the Last 16 of the competition when crushing Bodo/Glimt to move through to the Quarter Final, but that Second Leg was played at home and Sporting will understand the quality of the opponent in this tie is much stronger than the Norwegian club they beat.
Finishing in the top eight of the Champions League Group and making it through to the Quarter Final are big achievements for Sporting Lisbon and that will give them belief in overturning the First Leg deficit. It is more challenging away from home considering Sporting have lost 3 of the 5 away Champions League games played this season.
Sporting Lisbon have won 4 of the last 5 games in all competitions since losing 3-0 at Bodo/Glimt in the Last 16 First Leg. They were able to win 0-1 at Estrela this past weekend and Sporting Lisbon have won consecutive away games, while also having only lost 1 of the last 12 played on their travels in all competitions.
Head to Head
Arsenal are hosting Sporting Lisbon for a third time and the previous two at the Emirates Stadium have both ended in draws.
Prediction
It was a very difficult weekend for Arsenal fans to absorb, but Mikel Arteta has to be sitting his players down and reminding them of the strong position they have gotten into in both the Premier League and Champions League.
Saturday was a really poor performance overall and Arsenal were punished, but the hope is that a couple of days of rest will just help the squad reset.
The fans will certainly be expecting a much more positive approach from Arsenal who seemingly never got out of second gear in the defeat to Bournemouth, while the returns of Leandro Trossard and Eberechi Eze is a bonus. Bukayo Saka's absence has been felt, but Arsenal may feel they can still offer more in the final third with a more positive approach.
The situation of this Quarter Final tie could help after the late winner in Lisbon- Sporting are going to have to come forward and look to find a way back into the tie at some stage and that is where Arsenal could exploit spaces.
Arsenal have looked shaky since the March international break, but this may be the kind of opponent they may need to face.
That sounds disrespectful to Sporting Lisbon, but the Portuguese Champions are not the same team when travelling and it feels like they have missed their best chance of the upset last week at home.
Sporting Lisbon were well beaten at Bodo/Glimt and also conceded three goals in a defeat at Bayern Munich during the Champions League Group Stage. Napoli scored twice in a win over Sporting Lisbon in Italy and Arsenal do still have enough about them to give themselves a morale boosting victory here ahead of the big game at Manchester City next Sunday.
You do have to believe Arsenal will come out with more intensity than they showed over the weekend with the early kick off a contributory factor.
Doing that should see The Gunners push themselves into a position where they can score a late goal or two when Sporting Lisbon have to push forward and making sure this is not another disappointing evening for the Premier League leaders.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Arsenal 3-0 Sporting Lisbon
