Sporting CP vs Arsenal: Champions League preview, predictions & bet builder tips

• Ladbrokes previews Sporting vs Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-final first leg

• Arsenal backed to win in Lisbon, maintaining their unbeaten record in this season's UCL

• Over 2.5 goals tipped to be scoring, with both teams expected to find the net

Ladbrokes brings you an in-depth match preview for Sporting vs Arsenal including predictions, lineups and expert bet builder tips.

Mikel Arteta's side remain unbeaten in this season's Champions League, while Sporting's 5-0 win over Bodo/Glimt in the last 16 will have them coming into this one full of confidence - so it's anyone's game at the Estadio Jose Alvalade.

Read on for our in-depth Sporting vs Arsenal bet builder, and don't forget to check out our complete preview of every single Champions League quarter-final.

• Fixture: Sporting CP vs Arsenal

• Competition: Champions League quarter-final (1st leg)

• Date: Tuesday, 7 April, 2026

• Kick-off: 20:00 BST

• Venue: Estadio Jose Alvalade

Our prediction: Sporting 1-2 Arsenal

Sporting CP

Our predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Silva / Fresneda, Quaresma, Inacio, Santos / Hjulmand, Morita / Catamo, Trincao, Pote / Suarez

Arsenal

Our predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Raya / White, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori / Rice, Zubimendi / Saka, Eze, Martinelli / Gyokeres

Despite Arsenal's rock-solid defence being breached just five times across their 10 Champions League games so far, we're anticipating a front-footed approach from Sporting on Tuesday night - so the first pick of our bet builder is for both teams to score.

Arsenal always find the net, scoring in every single UCL game this term, and with Sporting hitting Bodo/Glimt for five in their round-of-16 triumph, the Portuguese outfit certainly know where the goal is - especially at home.

You have to go back to July 2025 for the last time Sporting failed to score at the Estadio Jose Alvalade, so as Liga Portugal's most prolific attack take on Arsenal - the highest scorers in the entire Champions League league phase - Ladbrokes is backing BTTS.

To go along with our predicted score of 2-1 to the Gunners, the next leg of our bet builder sees us back over 2.5 goals, with the aforementioned frontlines causing huge problems at both ends of the pitch.

70% of Sporting's 2025/26 Champions League games have featured goals for both sides, and with the Liga Portugal hopefuls only failing to score in one of their last 43 games across all competitions, they're always good for a goal.

But so are Arsenal, and with the Gunners wanting to take an advantage back to London for next week's second leg, Mikel Arteta's side will be determined to put their opponents to the sword. We expect attacks to come out on top in this one, with over 2.5 goals in the match.

While we always hope for goals, we don't often go as far as predicting the order of them - but Sporting CP's record is hard to ignore, so we're tipping the hosts to open the scoring on Tuesday night.

Rui Borges' side have scored first in 11 of their last 13 matches across all competitions, and have gone 1-0 up in each of their last 16 home games, so Arsenal will have to be at it from the very first whistle.

The Gunners conceded the opener in their round-of-16 clash with Bayer Leverkusen, and on an intense night under the lights, we think Sporting's lightning start could catch Arsenal out - even if they do go on to launch another comeback.

Rounding off our Sporting vs Arsenal preview and predictions, we're dipping into the match betting market, and despite heaping praise on Sporting's frontline, Ladbrokes is backing Arsenal to leave Lisbon with an advantage.

Mikel Arteta's side are yet to lose a game in this season's Champions League campaign, and remain favourites to win the final in May, so taking on the outright underdogs in the quarter-finals shouldn't cause them too many severe problems.

Winning the away tie will set the Londoners up for an enjoyable home leg next week, and will also give them real momentum as they head into the all-important Premier League run-in - so we're predicting a narrow, but impressive, Arsenal win.

You can bet on each of these markets individually, or combine them to create a Sporting vs Arsenal Bet Builder.

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All odds and markets are correct as of the date of publication.