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Second place at stake here, as Sporting and Schalke square off in a massive Champions League clash, looking to join Chelsea in the knockout stage.
Sporting a bit inconsistent this season and this is pretty obvious from their last two results, a 4-2 win over Maritimo, followed by a 3-0 defeat to Guimaraes. Two weeks ago Sporting did brilliant to hold on to Schalke despite playing a half an hour with 10 men, but ended up losing a heart breaker in the last second via a penalty. It was a 3-4 defeat with 7 goals to show for, so that pretty much speaks volumes about how these teams play football. Sporting has a single point in this group, Schalke 5, so a win is absolutely mandatory for the hosts.
Schalke is not playing bad football this season, they are on the 8th place in Bundesliga after a very poor start and have played well in the Champions League – however, they are really struggling away from home, losing 4 out of 5 in Germany. Similar to Sporting they can be inconsistent and today they will have a real task on their hands, as they struggle big time with injuries.
Bet on Sporting Lisbon vs. Schalke 04 with the best Champions League odds at Pinnacle.
Team news & lineups
Sporting only misses Mauricio, while Schalke is decimated ahead of this clash – Draxler, Kolasinag, Giefer and Farfan are out, while Boateng, Santana, Matip, Sam and Goretzka are doubtful.
Sporting: Patricio – Silva, Sarr, Oliveira, Cedric – Carvalho, Mario, Adrien – Nani, Slimani, Carrillo
Schalke: Fahrmann – Ayhan, Aogo, Howedes, Uchida – Hoger, Neustadter – Meyer, Clemens, Obasi – Huntelaar
These teams can concede goals as easy as they can score them, and despite this being a crucial game, I really fancy the bet on the over. Especially Sporting has been involved in real scoring fests lately but Schalke was not far either (just in the last two games, both 1-0). The visitors do miss some quality offensive players, but looking at guys like Mayer who will start, they are just perfect from counterattacking football. Sporting does not have any other option besides a win, so expect a relatively open clash, with the offensive style and quality of both teams determining over 2,5 goals to be scored. 9 units seems like a correct stake on this tip. Prediction: Sporting – Schalke 2-2.
Pick: over 2,5
Odds: 1.86 @ Pinnacle
Stake: 9
Possible profit: 7.74
Event date: 5 November
