Sporting Lisbon have never scored against Arsenal and Tottenham weakened them in January but ex-Gunner Hector Bellerin arrived and is set for Europa League reunion
Sporting Lisbon have a bad history with Arsenal while Tottenham might have inadvertently helped their rivals to success in Europe.
The Gunners have discovered their Europa League fate after being drawn against the Portuguese side in the last-16, and will face them over two legs in March.
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Arsenal have never won the Europa League but came close in 2019 when they lost to Chelsea in the final before reaching the semis in 2021.
Sporting are one of the more dangerous sides left in this season's competitions and have some quality players such as Pedro Goncalves, Marcus Edwards and Manuel Ugarte.
But Mikel Arteta might not be too worried, considering that the Primeira Liga outfit have never scored against the Gunners in their history.
Granted, the two teams have only met four times before, but Arsenal have triumphed, most recently in 2018 when they drew Sporting at the group stage.
Prior to reaching the final, they topped their group after beating Sporting 1-0 at the Jose Alvalade Stadium, thanks to Danny Welbeck's goal, before a 0-0 draw in the reverse fixture.
Before that, the two last met in 1969 in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup where Arsenal drew 0-0 in Portugal, before a 3-0 win back in London in the second round of the tournament, which Bertie Mee's side would go on to win.
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Further helping Arsenal's cause next month is the fact that Tottenham have snapped up one of Sporting's key players in Pedro Porro.
Antonio Conte had been desperate to sign the Spain international throughout the January transfer window and finally got his man on deadline day.
However, the right-back has yet to acclimatise to the Premier League and was torn to shreds on his debut in a 4-1 mauling from Leicester.
He has not made an appearance since then with Emerson Royal discovering a purple patch of form, while Sporting's replacement is well-known to the Arsenal fanbase.
Hector Bellerin moved to Lisbon to fill Porro's boots after Barcelona allowed him to leave just six months into his return to the Nou Camp.
Arteta terminated the Spaniard's contract last summer, allowing him to join Barca, 11 years after leaving them to move to Arsenal's academy.
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But it was the return he would have expected after being largely left out of the side, making just one start in LaLiga, but he has already made five appearances for Sporting.
Bellerin played 239 times for Arsenal and is expected to be welcomed by fans when the two sides meet at the Emirates Stadium in March.
However, the same cannot be said for mazy winger Edwards, who previously played for Tottenham after coming up through their academy.
Since then, the 24-year-old has moved to Portugal where he has played for Vitoria before joining Sporting in January 2022, scoring ten goals and grabbing ten assists this season.
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