English Premier League leaders Arsenal have struggled to finish games in all competitions recently, but they did manage to grab a late goal in a 1-0 win over Sporting CP in the first leg of this UEFA Champions League quarterfinal clash. The Gunners will likely be without several key players as they return home for the second leg looking to advance to the semifinal round. Sporting CP will be trying to push forward for goals but are going up against one of the top defensive teams in the world, and Arsenal are especially stingy on their home turf.
Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. ET from Emirates Stadium in London, and sports fans can see all the action live on Paramount+. Arsenal are -185 home favorites (wager $185 to win $100) on the 90-minute money line in the latest Arsenal vs. Sporting CP odds at DraftKings Sportsbook. Sporting Lisbon are +500 underdogs (wager $100 to win $500), while a draw is priced at +350 and the match goals total is 2.5 (Over -125, Under -105).
In soccer money line betting, if there’s no winner after 90 minutes plus stoppage time, only a draw wager pays out, and there also is prop betting and parlay betting available. You can check out the SportsLine Projection Model to see the latest Arsenal vs. Sporting CP predictions, but you really need to see SportsLine soccer expert Martin Green’s best bets for the match before making any wagers.
After working in the sports betting industry for several years, Green became a professional sports writer and handicapper and has covered the game worldwide. Last year, Green was profitable in multiple areas on his soccer betting picks, including Euro qualifying (+6.30 units), EFL Cup (+4.47), FA Cup (+3.07) and Champions League (+3.05), among others. Anyone who follows him could be way up.
Here are Green’s best bets and analysis for Arsenal vs. Sporting CP on Wednesday, April 15.
Arsenal vs. Sporting CP best bets
- Arsenal money line and Under 4.5 goals (-120): 1u
- Viktor Gyokeres anytime goal scorer (+140): 0.25u
Arsenal will carry a slender one-goal lead into the second leg of their Champions League quarterfinal clash with Sporting Lisbon on Wednesday. A late goal from substitute Kai Havertz earned the Gunners a hard-fought 1-0 win in Lisbon last week. The action now reverts to London for the second leg, and Arsenal should be able to get the job done. However, the players could be low on confidence after suffering a 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth at the weekend. They’ve now lost three of their last four games in all competitions and that result dented their chances of winning the Premier League title.
The Gunners are missing several key players through injury right now, and the fans are getting nervous at this late stage in the campaign. The atmosphere could be tense inside the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday, but Arsenal should be capable of earning another narrow win.
Sporting’s away record is poor
Sporting have struggled on the road in the Champions League this season. They had one win, one draw and two losses from four away games in the group stage before losing 3-0 to Bodø/Glimt in Norway in the Round of 16. Meanwhile, Arsenal’s home record has been impeccable. The Gunners won all of their group stage games, and they beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 at the Emirates in the previous round. That doesn’t bode well for Sporting’s chances of turning this two-leg quarterfinal contest around. They beat Estrela Amadora 1-0 at the weekend, a result that kept them second in the Portuguese league table, but facing Arsenal represents a huge step up in quality.
Sporting created some good chances in the first leg but Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya made a few superb saves to earn his team a clean sheet. It left the Gunners firmly in the driving seat as they can now sit back in the second leg, safe in the knowledge that a draw would earn them a place in the next round. By contrast, Sporting will need to take risks in a bid to equalize, which could leave them vulnerable to Arsenal’s pace on the counterattack.
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Can Gyokeres make an impact against his former club?
Viktor Gyökeres scored 97 goals in 102 games for Sporting during a remarkably prolific two-year spell in the Portuguese capital. He was adored in Lisbon after leading the club to back-to-back league titles but he wanted to test himself at a higher level, so he moved to Arsenal last summer. The results have been mixed.
Gyökeres has often struggled to impose himself on games, and he was anonymous on his return to Lisbon last week. However, he has scored six goals in his last five matches for club and country, taking his tally to 22 for the season. He could be a major beneficiary if Sporting overcommit themselves in attack in this game, as it would give him space to receive the ball in wide areas and bear down on goal.
The Gunners have a lot of players missing right now – star winger Bukayo Saka and captain Martin Ødegaard were among the absentees in the defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday – so they’ll need a big performance from Gyökeres in this game. The Swedish striker couldn’t make an impact against his former employers last week, but he could be the man to break their hearts this time around.
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