Ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League clash between Sporting Lisbon and Arsenal, Sports Mole looks at the head-to-head record and previous meetings between the two clubs.
A Champions League classic could be in store on Tuesday evening, when Sporting Lisbon host Arsenal at the Estadio Jose Alvalade in each side’s fifth league phase match of the campaign.
The Gunners are out to end a dismal five-game winless run away from home in the competition, but they head to Portugal with a newfound spring in their step after a convincing 3-0 Premier League win over Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Sporting will play their first UCL match of the post-Ruben Amorim era on Tuesday, where they will seek a 10th straight victory in all competitions after slaughtering Amarante 6-0 in the Taca de Portugal on Friday.
Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at the head-to-head record and previous meetings between the two sides.
Head-to-head record
Previous meetings: 6
Sporting Lisbon wins: 1
Draws: 3
Arsenal wins: 2
Arsenal and Sporting Lisbon have previously clashed six times in European competition, but never in the Champions League; they have crossed paths four times in the Europa League and twice in the now-defunct Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
Half of their previous six showdowns have ended level at full time, while Arsenal have come up trumps on two occasions, and the Portuguese giants only have one victory to their name against the three-time Premier League winners.
However, that success arrived in their most recent showdown in the 2022-23 Europa League last 16, where Mikel Arteta and Ruben Amorim’s teams shook hands on a pulsating 2-2 first-leg draw before reuniting at the Emirates one week later.
With media personality Kim Kardashian watching on from the Emirates stands, Arsenal went ahead through Granit Xhaka, only to be pegged back by a 46-yard Pedro Goncalves spectacular before being knocked out by Amorim’s men on penalties.
Prior to that crushing continental disappointment, though, Arsenal had kept clean sheets in each of their first four matches with Sporting, whom they also met in the group stage of the 2018-19 Europa League with Unai Emery at the helm.
That year, a 1-0 away win courtesy of a Danny Welbeck effort preceded a 0-0 draw at the Emirates, and the Gunners also proved too hot for Sporting to handle during the 1969-70 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, winning their second-round tie 3-0 on aggregate before going on to lift the trophy.
Future manager George Graham netted two of Arsenal’s goals in their 3-0 second-leg success at Highbury, making him the top scorer in this fixture, which has never been won in 90 minutes by the Portuguese side.
Should Sporting fail to trump Arteta’s men on Tuesday, Arsenal will become the first team that the Green and Whites have faced seven times in European competition without ever winning in normal or extra time.
Previous meetings
Mar 16, 2023: Arsenal 1-1 Sporting Lisbon(p) (Europa League Round of 16)
Mar 09, 2023: Sporting Lisbon 2-2 Arsenal (Europa League Round of 16)
Nov 08, 2018: Arsenal 0-0 Sporting Lisbon (Europa League Group Stage)
Oct 25, 2018: Sporting Lisbon 0-1 Arsenal (Europa League Group Stage)
Nov 26, 1969: Arsenal 3-0 Sporting (Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Second Round Second Leg)
Oct 29, 1969: Sporting 0-0 Arsenal (Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Second Round First Leg)
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