Sporting CP vs Arsenal: UCL preview and possible lineups
Premier League leaders Arsenal travel to take on Sporting CP in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie at the Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon, on Tuesday, April 7, 2026.
Match outlook
Ahead of the encounter, both teams can make a strong case, in which Arsenal striker Viktor Gyökeres will return to face the club where he scored 97 goals in 102 competitive games between 2023 and 2025 before heading to north London.
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The Gunners are unbeaten in European competition against Sporting CP (W2 D3), and their 5-1 win in Lisbon on Matchday 5 of the 2024/25 Champions League offers a glimpse of their attacking verve under Mikel Arteta. However, the only two-legged tie between the teams ended with the Portuguese outfit advancing on penalties in the 2022/23 UEFA Europa League round of 16.
This time round, the Gunners face Sporting with doubts lingering over players’ mentality after suffering defeat to Southampton in the FA Cup encounter.
Indeed, the Lions have won nine of their ten previous UEFA competition two-legged ties against English teams, with the only defeat coming in the sole two-legged contest in the European Cup/Champions League, against Manchester City in 2021/22. That followed a pattern for Portuguese clubs at this stage, as they have lost all nine European Cup/Champions League quarter-final meetings with Premier League opposition.
Sporting CP are aiming to become the first Portuguese outfit to win a Champions League quarter-final tie since the 2003/04 Porto side, who went on to lift the trophy. The overall prize will doubtless be on Arsenal’s mind too as they seek that elusive first triumph in this competition.
Match stats
Viktor Gyökeres was a Sporting player between July 2023 and signing for Arsenal in July 2025. He scored 97 goals in his 102 appearances for the Lions, including six in eight Champions League games.
Sporting’s sole previous European Cup quarter-final was a 1-2 aggregate loss to Real Sociedad in 1982/83 (1-0 h, 0-2 a).
The Lisbon club have not won a European quarter-final since beating Metalist Kharkiv 3-2 on aggregate in the 2011/12 Europa League; they have since lost to Atlético de Madrid (2017/18) and Juventus (2022/23) in the same competition.
Portuguese clubs have lost their last nine Champions League quarter-finals, since Porto beat Lyon 4-2 on aggregate in 2003/04.
Sporting have won all five of their home Champions League matches this season, scoring 16 goals and conceding only three.
The Lions have won six of their last 11 games in the competition, losing only three.
Luis Suárez has scored in Sporting’s last three home Champions League matches, four goals overall.
Arsenal are in their tenth European Cup quarter-final and a third in succession.
Last season’s 5-1 aggregate win against Real Madrid (3-0 h, 2-1 a) was only Arsenal’s third at this stage of the competition.
The Gunners are unbeaten in the first leg of their last eight European Cup quarter-final ties (W3 D5).
Mikel Arteta’s side have won four of their last six Champions League knockout ties.
Arsenal have lost only two of their last 20 Champions League matches (W16 D2) and are unbeaten in this season’s competition (W9 D1), keeping six clean sheets.
Possible line-ups
Sporting CP: Rui Silva; Iván Fresneda, Diomande, Gonçalo Inácio, Maxi Araújo; Debast, Morita; Catamo, Francisco Trincão, Pedro Gonçalves; Luis Suárez
Arsenal: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Zubimendi, Rice, Ødegaard; Madueke, Gyökeres, Martinelli
