Arsenal will travel to the Portugal for the firs leg of their Europa League last-16 match against Sporting Lisbon. The Gunners progressed as winners from Group A, setting up a tie with Ruben Amorim's side. Sporting are already familiar with North London after doing battle with Tottenham Hotspur during the group stage of the Champions League. However, their efforts to pip Spurs and Eintracht Frankfurt to a top-two spot proved futile, as they settled for a third-placed berth and spot in Europe's second-tier tournament. Dreams of a domestic and continental double are surely unfounded for Amorim's men, though, as Sporting occupy 4th place in the Primeira Liga table and are a whopping 15 points behind runaway leaders Benfica, despite winning their last three top-flight games. Arsenal, on the other hand, bypassed an extra two games in the knockout round playoffs, which was a necessity amid their remarkable Premier League title charge. They lost 2-0 to PSV Eindhoven but topped Europa League Group A with 15 points from 18 on offer. While Premier League glory is by no means a guarantee, it would take a catastrophic collapse for Arsenal to drop out of the top four. This makes success in the Europa League less of a priority than in previous years. Think value is on a home side not to lose, even if Arsenal is higher level team right now. Amorim is an aspiring coach I previously understimated a bit, I have to admin. His team is now in a good form and will be normally highly motivated to win over Premier League leaders. Will give a try to 1X in Portugal and predicting 2-1 or 2-2 result today.