Sporting – Olympiakos

Sporting will host Olympiakos in Lisbon, with both teams seeking a win that would be huge in their quest to reach their objectives.

Sporting will be confident coming into this clash, having been in pretty good form lately and playing very well in the Champions League. The Portugese side has been competitive in all 4 matches so far, winning in Greece, losing by one goal against Juventus and Barcelona, then claiming a 1-1 home draw against Juve in the previous round.

Olympiakos has played well since hiring Takis Lemonis as manager at the end of September, and they made a reasonably good account of themselves so far in this group – despite winning a single point. The 2-3 home loss to Sporting in the opening round was definitely a low point, but Olympiakos was competitive in the next three games against Barcelona (twice) and Juventus, even claiming a famous 0-0 draw at home against Barca in the previous round.

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Team news & lineups:

While Olympiakos has a full squad available, Sporting has real problems coming into this clash. The hosts will miss their usual center back pairing of Mathieu and Coaets, while regular right back Piccini and key holding midfielder Carvalho are highly doubtful. Sporting will also be without Silva and possibly Acuna.

Sporting: Rui Patricio – Ristovski, Figueiredo, Pinto, Coentrao – Battaglia, Fernandes – Martins, Podence, Cesar – Dost

Olympiakos: Proto – Elabdellaoui, Botia, Engels, Koutris – Tachtsidis – Figueiras, Odjidja-Ofoe, Romao, Carcela-Gonzalez – Fortounis

The group standings are as follows: Barcelona 10 points, Juventus 7 points, Sporting 4 points, Olympiakos 1 point. In the last round Sporting travels to Camp Nou, while Olympiakos hosts Juventus.

Sporting will maintain slim chances to qualify to the next stage with a win as long as Juventus doesn`t defeat Barcelona, while a draw would knock them out of contention, but would guarantee them a spot in the Europa League.

Olympiakos needs to win by 2 or more goals (or win by one and score at least 4 goals) to tie Sporting and be in pole position to finish third, as Sporting won 3-2 in Greece. A simple one goal win win will still give them a decent chance to overtake Sporting in the final round, while a draw or a loss would see them finish 4th.

Both sides need a win here, particularly Olympiakos, so the visitors won`t park the bus – and we know Sporting will be offensive minded at home. When you add the fact that both teams are solid up front, an entertaining clash seems on the cards – just as it was the case in the previous meeting, when Sporting won 3-2.

The fact that Sporting will miss their two regular central defenders is also a key argument when you are talking about betting on goals in this match. If right back Piccini and holding midfielder Carvalho also miss out, as expected, the hosts will have even bigger issues in defense.

Sporting`s excellence on the offensive end should see them score at least a goal at home, but you would also expect Olympiakos to capitalize on Sporting’s huge problems at the back.

I believe most bets on goals make sense here, and for me the choice is between both to score and over 2.5 goals. I think it`s unlikely for either side to win 3-0, and odds for both to score are higher, so that will be my tip here. Prediction: Sporting – Olympiakos 2-2.

Pick: Both to score
Odds: 2.00 @ 10Bet
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 8
Event date: 22 November