Sporting CP vs Arsenal prediction 07.04.2026 | Champions League

Sporting CP have another good season. In the domestic league, they are five points behind the league leader, Porto, but with one game fewer played, while in the Champions League, they reached the quarterfinals for the first time in more than 40 years. In the previous phase, they lost 3-0 in the first leg to Bodo/Glimt, but they trashed the Norwegians 5- 0 in the rematch. After that, Rui Borges' team won two more matches in Liga Portugal. In the previous game, Sporting CP won 4-2 at home against Santa Clara.

Sporting's head coach, Rui Borges, was very satisfied with a convincing victory over Santa Clara. He said, "It was important for us to give a clear demonstration of what our team is like, and they did. We conceded a goal in the only attack Santa Clara had in the first half. The team remained focused, calm, and confident. We grew into the game, creating several opportunities, and went into halftime with a 3-1 lead, more than deserved. We also controlled the second half. Santa Clara only managed to believe in the last five minutes, when a small lapse in concentration from Zeno led to Santa Clara making it 3-2. But the victory was uncontested."

Morten Hjulmand is suspended and will not play on Tuesday against Arsenal. Also, Fotis Ioannidis, Geovany Quenda, and Nuno Santos are unavailable due to injuries, while Luis Guilherme is questionable.

Although Arsenal are not playing well lately, the 2025/26 season can still become historic for the Gunners. They are nine points ahead of the next team in the Premier League standings, Manchester City, but with one game more played, while in the Champions League, they are on course to repeat last year's semifinal. However, Arsenal lost the last two matches, and their form doesn't seem too optimistic. In their most recent outing, Mikel Arteta's team lost 2-1 away to Southampton in the FA Cup.

Mikel Arteta was expectedly disappointed with a defeat against Southampton. He said, "Yeah, very disappointed in the manner that we lost the opportunity to get back to Wembley. I think the game had many, many, many periods of dominance from our side when we generated chances and situations. We didn't capitalize on that enough, and then, yeah, when you defend in and around the box and directly in the manner that we did it today, you're going to put yourself in a really difficult position."

Arsenal's Gabriel Magalhaes suffered a knee injury in the game against Southampton. If the defender can't play, he will join already unavailable Eberechi Eze, Pedro Hincapie, and Mikel Merino, while Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard are questionable.