Sturm Graz vs Sporting Lisbon predictions: Third straight defeat likely for Austrians
- Sturm Graz have lost 2-1 away at Brest and 1-0 at home to Club Brugge
- Sporting defeated Lille 2-0 at home and then drew 1-1 at PSV Eindhoven
- Recommended bet: Sporting Lisbon to win to nil
It has been a disappointing start for Sturm Graz, with the Austrians losing narrowly to a Brest team making their Champion League debut and then being defeated in a winnable fixture against Club Brugge.
Sporting Lisbon are not just unbeaten in the Champions League, but have also won all eight of their games in Portugal’s Primeira Liga, scoring a total of 27 goals and conceding only twice in that competition.
Team news
Sturm Graz have Gregory Wuthrich, Alexandar Borkovic and Jon Gorenc-Stankovic out with injuries, while Arjan Malic is a doubt with a muscle problem.
Ruben Amorim rotated his Sporting side for their 2-1 victory against Portimonense in the Taca de Portugal on Friday, giving rests to Franco Israel, Hidemasa Morita, Geny Catamo and Viktor Gyokeres.
The visitors will be without the injured Goncalo Inacio, Ousmane Diomande, Matheus Reis, Pedro Goncalves and Marcus Edwards.
The stats
These two clubs played each other twice in last season’s Europa League group stage, with Sporting winning 2-1 in Austria and 3-0 at home.
Since blowing a three-goal lead against Porto to eventually lose 4-3 in the Super Cup, Sporting are unbeaten in 11 games across all competitions, winning 10 and drawing once.
Sturm Graz are top of the Austrian Bundesliga with 22 points from ten games, winning 5-0 against Red Bull Salzburg and 5-2 against Grazer, in their last two domestic league matches.
Sporting have only won once in Austria from seven attempts, but the lone victory did come in that Europa League fixture, last season.
Prediction
Sturm Graz are one of eight teams who have yet to claim a point in this season’s Champions League and that is a real concern considering the quality of the opposition that they have faced.
They could have conceivably claimed points from both Brest away and especially against Club Brugge at home, but instead lost both games by a one-goal margin.
On paper, this looks like their toughest fixture yet, with Sporting in unstoppable form in the Primeira Liga, which is translating to strong performances in Europe.
Their defensive record is particularly impressive, with Amorim’s team not conceding in any of their last six games in the Portuguese top-flight.
They also kept a clean sheet in their opening Champions League win against Lille and backing Sporting to keep it tight again, seems the best way to get some value from the away victory.
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