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What a day for Maribor and their fans, as the Slovenian team will kick off their first Champions League campaign after a long time. With Chelsea and Schalke also in the group, Maribor will feel this is their best chance to get some points.
I disrespected Maribor many times in my tips, and I still believe the Slovenians were very lucky in some of their results recently, but fact is they passed the Europa League group stages last year, played a great home game against Sevilla and now here they are in the Champions League after a playoff against Celtic in which they won deservingly 2-1 aggregate. Maribor is a disciplined, organized team with lots of fighting spirit and they can easily pull you into a dogfight if you underestimate them.
Sporting are back in the Champions League after a long time themselves, the team had a great campaign last year in Portugal and even though they lost some players, they still have a decent side which could make some noise in the group stages. However, Sporting did not start this season too well and has 3 draws from 4 matches in the domestic league, struggling to score and win games.
Team news & lineups
Maribor has no injuries or suspensions, while Sporting only has Rabia and Soares doubtful, so team news are excellent for both sides.
NK Maribor: Handanovic – Suler, Arghus, Rajcevic, Viler – Mertelj, Filipovic – Bohar, Tavares, Vrsic – Mendy
Sporting Lisbon: Rui Patricio – Soares, Mauricio, Sarr, Nascimento – Martins, Carvalho, Silva – Carillo, Slimani, Nani
An ambitious and fighting team like Maribor will surely start this game with a lot of focus, putting effort and running around like crazy. Considering that Sporting struggles to score, is not looking so sharp and is very prone to draws, I reckon a half time draw bet is a no brainer here. It could also be a draw at full time, but I don`t trust Maribor enough and I wouldn`t be surprised if Sporting barely edges it by a late goal. My tip is a draw at half time. The under might be a good bet as well if you fancy taking a risk at much lower odds. Prediction: Maribor – Sporting Lisbon 0-1 (0-0 half time).
Pick: Draw half time
Odds: 2.05 @ Bet365
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 8.4
Event date: 17 September
