Arsenal are at risk of matching an unwanted Champions League record set by Manchester United when they face Sporting Lisbon at the Estadio Jose Alvalade on Tuesday evening.
Mikel Arteta's men head to Portugal with a spring in their step after ending their four-game winless run in the Premier League, easing to a 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest at the Emirates on Saturday.
That routine beating of the Tricky Trees also ended a three-match winless sequence in all competitions for Arsenal, whose last Champions League contest ended in a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Inter Milan.
Arteta's men had previously taken seven points from their first nine on offer in the 2024-25 competition, securing home victories over Paris Saint-Germain and Shakhtar Donetsk after a goalless draw at the home of the Europa League champions Atalanta BC.
Arsenal's failure to make the net bulge in Bergamo or Milan means that they are still searching for their first Champions League away goal of the campaign, and registering on the road in Europe has been a fruitless task for the Gunners for months.
Arsenal at risk of record-equalling five scoreless UCL away games
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Arsenal were knocked out of the 2023-24 competition in the quarter-finals by virtue of a 1-0 second-leg loss to Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena, prior to which they fell to defeat by the same scoreline in their last-16 first leg with Porto.
Should the Gunners come away from the Estadio Jose Alvalade with no goals to their name, they will become just the second English team to fail to score in five straight European Cup/Champions League away matches.
The only Premier League side to suffer that fate so far was Manchester United, who went five away games without scoring in the Champions League under Sir Alex Ferguson between October 2004 and November 2005.
During that 13-month sequence, the Red Devils drew blanks at Sparta Prague, Fenerbahce, AC Milan, Villarreal and Lille before a Paul Scholes strike in a 2-1 loss to Benfica in December 2005.
Arsenal have to go back to December 2023 - an Eddie Nketiah effort against PSV Eindhoven - for their last away goal in Europe, and their most recent win on their travels in the UCL came against Sevilla two months before that.
Positive omens for Arsenal despite scoreless streak
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The Gunners also failed to overcome Sporting on the road in the 2022-23 Europa League last 16, drawing 2-2 with the Green and Whites before losing on penalties at the Emirates to exit the competition.
However, Arsenal have never lost in normal or extra time against Sporting in six previous matches, and should they avoid defeat on Tuesday, the Gunners would become the team that Sporting have faced more times in Europe without ever winning in 90 or 120 minutes.
The league phase encounter will mark Sporting's first Champions League game without Ruben Amorim at the helm, but new boss Joao Pereira commenced his reign in ideal fashion on Friday night, masterminding a 6-0 Taca de Portugal crushing of Amarante.
That success marked an astonishing ninth triumph in a row in all competitions for the hosts, who have also won 14 straight home matches, including a 4-1 demolition of Manchester City in the Champions League earlier this month.
The last time Sporting failed to win a home match was March 6, when they drew 1-1 with Atalanta in the Europa League, and they have scored in an outrageous 56 consecutive home matches since a 2-0 Champions League defeat to Marseille in October 2022.
Ben Knapton
