Arsenal fans think they know exactly what will happen against Sporting in the Europa League

Arsenal fans think they've identified the man who will knock them out of the Europa League, after they were drawn with Sporting in the last 16.

It must have been pretty nice for the Premier League leaders over the last couple of weeks to see English sides largely struggle in Europe.

They finished top of their Europa League group and avoided the play off round, whilst rivals Manchester United had to face Barcelona, eventually coming through after two tight legs.

Things were much worse in the Champions League, with Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Liverpool all losing, the latter smashed by Real Madrid, whilst Manchester City could only draw with RB Leipzig.

On Friday, the Gunners were right back in the European spotlight, with the draw for the last 16 of the Europa League taking place.

As group winners, they knew they would face one of the play-off winners, which could have meant a tie against Juventus or Roma, amongst others.

However, they were drawn with Sporting, who beat Spurs in the Champions League earlier in the season, and fans think former Spurs player Marcus Edwards is going to be their downfall.

"Marcus Edwards dumping us out the Europa, poetic," one fan said.

"Marcus Edwards back at the Emirates, remember him scoring couple years back when we played Vitoria," added a second.

A third posted, "Watch out for Marcus Edwards!!!!!!!!"

With a fourth replying, "Marcus Edwards the big worry to be honest, saucy baller."

On the previous time that Edwards faced the Gunners, another noted, "Marcus Edwards is definitely cooking our left back when we play them. Very quick and tricky player, he's played against us before and he tormented us."

And referring to his former sides hatred of the upcoming opponent, a sixth fan exclaimed, "Spurs fans have just become the biggest Marcus Edwards fans you’ll see."

Edwards scored against Spurs earlier this season. Image: Alamy

Edwards scored his side's goal as they drew with Tottenham earlier in the season, and then produced a piece of magic as his side won 2-0 in Portugal.

His ability to beat defenders will certainly have to be a worry for Arsenal fans, as they attempt to add European silverware whilst also chasing the league title.

The Sporting forward isn't the only player Arsenal fans are assuming will hurt them though, with others expecting Hector Bellerin to return to the Emirates to haunt them.

Topics: Arsenal, Sporting CP, Sporting Lisbon, Europa League, Premier League

Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a journalist for SPORTbible with over eight years of experience. Passionate about all sports, he mainly covers football and F1 - Daniel Ricciardo once spent an entire interview referring to him as 'Ryan Gosling,' still his proudest moment.

@Sidler28