Arsenal travel to Sporting Lisbon on the back of successive defeats, the first time they have lost back-to-back games all season
By Pardeep Cattry Apr 7, 2026 at 9:38 am ET • 3 min read 
Getty Images Arsenal may still be the favorites to win the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League but as they prepare for a visit to Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday, there is no denying that the last few weeks have not been kind to them. They entered the international break after a defeat to Manchester City in the EFL Cup final and returned to play on Saturday with a 2-1 loss at Southampton in the FA Cup, the first time they have dealt with back-to-back defeats all season long. The Gunners are still expected to turn things around in Portugal but for the first time in a long time, it might be worth asking: Can they actually do it?
There is no reason to actually demote them from their status as the heavy favorites in this Champions League tie, especially since Declan Rice, Gabriel and Leandro Trossard trained on Monday despite some injury concerns over the weekend. The Gunners have all the tools they need to advance comfortably against Sporting, too – their well-documented defensive resolve, the best in Europe for some time now, and a reliability on set pieces on both ends of the pitch. That was the prevailing message from Mikel Arteta's remarks after the loss in Southampton on Saturday, the coach electing not to criticize his team but rather reinforce what they have done well all season long.
"Someone has to take responsibility," Arteta said. "That's me, and we have the most beautiful period of the season ahead of us. If this is a difficult period, I believe there are many other ones that are much more difficult. So stand up, make yourself comfortable, and deliver like we've been doing all season … Let's look at ourselves in the mirror. Accept the situation, and go again to Portugal with, again, freshness, with clarity, and looking forward to it."
How to watch Sporting Lisbon vs. Arsenal, odds
- Date: Tuesday, April 7 | Time: 3 p.m. ET
- Location: Estadio Jose Alvalade -- Lisbon, Portugal
- Live stream: Paramount+
- Odds: Sporting Lisbon +370; Draw +280; Arsenal -135
Arteta's side has been the definition of efficiency for years now – they suck the life out of games on purpose, sacrificing style points while rendering the opponents useless. They barely concede chances but expertly take the chances in front of them, even if they come rarely in more challenging matches. Their depth has been the key to taking them to the next level, a set of fresh legs always ready to go in the late stages of a game. They have 15 goals in the 75th minute or later in Premier League matches this season, second only to Liverpool, managing all this while Bukayo Saka deals with another batch of injuries and Viktor Gyokeres posts average numbers in his first season with the club.
Their losses to City and Southampton, though, may have unlocked a long-awaited method to beating this version of Arsenal. Both City and Southampton, though, decided to take the game to Arsenal and reaped the rewards for doing so. After a dull first half in the EFL Cup final, City had all 11 players taking on their Arsenal counterparts, rarely affording them a moment of respite and eventually paving the way for a Nico O'Reilly brace. If there was a question about the strategy's efficacy when a team without City's powers tried it, Southampton quelled those concerns. They pulled a page straight out of the same playbook and outdid the Gunners, who had their moments but only mustered 1.61 expected goals from 23 shots while the Saints had 1.15 expected goals from just eight shots.
The high-intensity approach is perhaps a natural antidote to the Gunners' trademark style of dulling the game down, a repeat perhaps in store when Arsenal visit City on April 19 in a high-stakes Premier League encounter. In the short-term, though, it is a stylistic option that is now available to Sporting and likely even Bournemouth on Saturday, since the Cherries rolled out something similar in a 3-2 defeat in January. Bournemouth coach Andoni Iraola used his weekend off to take in Southampton's win at St Mary's Stadium, getting a closer look at his next opponent than usual.
Arsenal have essentially cruised to their current status as Premier League favorites and Champions League frontrunners, years of hard work seeming to finally pay off. Yet, Arteta and company have a new batch of problems they need to solve after months of having all of the answers. There is no question that they have all the tools to do so – years of undeniable results have showcased as much. Sooner or later, though, Arteta will be forced to find a tactical response to his high-energy opponents or risk question about the sustainability of an approach that has survived a wide array of tests so far.
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