Sporting Lisbon vs. Lille: UEFA Champions League Preview, Prediction & Match Details

This will mark the very first Champions League clash between these two sides as Sporting Lisbon welcomes Lille to Estadio Jose Alvalade this coming Tuesday. Welcome, league phase anew. Current Portuguese champions Sporting Lisbon have been on an inspired campaign under Ruben Amorim but find visiting French side Lille struggling for rhythm under new management.

Sporting Lisbon vs. Lille: Team Form & Head-to-Head

Photo byJanosch DiggelmannonUnsplash

Sporting finally, it would appear, are making inroads on the continent as they are into successive three knockout phases of UEFA competitions. This season’s Europa League finished them running runners-up in their group then lost to Atalanta in the last 16. They fought off their usual challengers to take the Primeira Liga with a healthy 10-point cushion. They have started the 2024-25 season in fine fettle, winning all five of their league matches, and scoring 19 goals with the concession of just two. The only chink in their armor appears to be their home European form, having lost seven of their last 12 matches in Lisbon.

Lille last reached the Champions League proper three years ago, going all the way to the knockout rounds for only the second time in their history before falling to Chelsea. Last season, they launched a brilliant European run, making it to the Europa Conference League quarter-finals. Away from home, Lille has not been consistent and has won only two of their last nine trips in Europe.

Now under a new head coach, Lille is off to an inconsistent start in Ligue 1. They won the first two league fixtures and then lost the next two, including the latest 1-0 loss to Saint-Etienne on Friday. Since then, Sporting had beaten Lille twice in the Europa League group stage some 14 years ago. That might be a good omen for the Portuguese side to try to get off on the right foot in the Champions campaign.

Match Details

Match: Lille & Sporting Lisbon
Date & Time: Sep 17, 2024 at 8:00 pm UK
Stadium: StaEstadio Jose Alvalade

Team News

Pedro Goncalves, Francisco Trincao, and Viktor Gyokeres should form the attacking trio for Sporting Lisbon. The top form this season, Gyokeres has managed to notch eight goals for Sporting, one of them a hat-trick away to Farense. Andrija, thus, could again deputize if Amorim chooses not to risk his first-choice goalkeeper Vladan Kovacevic due to an ankle injury that might keep him on the fringes. Centre-back Jeremiah St. Juste remains absent.

Most recently Lille brought in Mitchel Bakker, but several players are sidelined with injuries, including Ethan Mbappe, Ngal’ayel Mukau, Hakon Haraldsson, and Ismaily. Angel Gomes should be back in the team for this one having been given a rest last Friday after winning his first England cap. Creative backup playmaker to star striker Jonathan David is almost expected, again to be provided by Gomes and Kosovar wing Edon Zhegrova.

Possible Starting XI

Sporting Lisbon: Franco; Quaresma, Diomande, Inacio; Quenda, Morita, Hjulmand, Catamo; Trincao, Goncalves; Gyokeres

Lille: Chevalier; Diakite, Mandi, Alexsandro; Santos, Andre, Gomes, Gudmundsson; Zhegrova, Cabella; David

Sporting Lisbon vs. Lille: Prediction

Sporting Lisbon vs Lille: Prediction Sporting has been in sensational form, losing just one of their previous 28 league games and winning each of their past 19 home outings. With this level of determined support by fans in Estadio Jose Alvalade, they surely look best-placed to extend this run at home against Lille. Still, maybe Lille will spring a surprise, even if Sporting is favored under present conditions in this opening Champions League match.

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Article originally written by Kufreabasi Essien