Bodo/Glimt vs Sporting Prediction: BTTS & Over 2.5 Goals is a STRONG BET

Bodo/Glimt play hosts to Sporting Lisbon in Norway in this round’s most unexpected tie of all, kicking off at 20:00 on Wednesday 11th March.    

Jamie Pacheco thinks all the stats point to both teams scoring and to three or more goals, while there’s also a Norwegian striker carrying his money as we check out his Bodo/Glimt vs Sporting Predictions here on Betfred Insights...

Bodo/Glimt  

Of all the teams still in the competition at this stage, this one is probably the most unlikely to still be in it.  

23rd position in the Champions League group stage was just about enough to see them go through to the Play-offs, and many thought that's where the journey would end after being drawn against Inter Milan.  

Yes, Inter Milan. That would be last season's Serie A winners, last year's Champions League beaten finalists and this year's Serie A leaders.  

But Bodo didn't just eliminate Inter, they beat them both home (3-1) and away (2-1). Striker Jens Petter Huage scored in both ties.  

There are many things that are remarkable about their run in this competition but one of them is that since the end of November, their only domestic action came in the form of a Cup match last Thursday, meaning that while they were getting excellent results against the likes of Manchester City and Atlético Madrid, plus of course Inter, they had no games at home to keep them match sharp. Incredible, really.  

Hauge has six goals in this competition in total, fellow striker Kasper Høgh has four.  

Sporting

Sporting made it this far by a slightly more straightforward route: by finishing seventh in the group stages. No mean feat considering that it was higher than the likes of Manchester City (who finished eighth), PSG, Inter, Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid and Juventus.  

Budget-wise that's very surprising but this is an excellent, well-drilled team that is performing on all fronts, also beating Porto in the first leg of the Cup last midweek (as predicted by us in the preview of that game, also adding that the game would have under 3.5 goals, a nice winner at 8/5) and currently in second place in the Portuguese Superliga.  

That said, they missed a good chance to close the gap on Porto this weekend.  The latter split the points with Benfica, a great result for Sporting, but the day before Sporting had only managed a 2-2 draw at Braga, conceding via a penalty in the 95th minute of the game. So as you were back in Portugal.  

But this is their biggest game of their season so far. The chance to make a Champions League quarter-finals isn't a yearly occurrence for this club by any means and with all due respect to Bodo, they probably couldn't have asked for an easier opponent, on paper at least.  

This week, winger Francisco Trincao expressed a desire to sign a new contract, a good coup for both parties involved.  

That man, Luis Suarez, scored another goal this weekend, but just like in midweek, it was from the penalty spot.  

Match Odds: 

Hosts Bodo are 6/4, Sporting are 8/5 and the draw is 11/4, so not much in it, really.  

It's impossible, of course, to ignore the fact that this match will a) be played on an artificial pitch and b) in icy cold conditions.  

The first factor shouldn't be too much of a barrier to Sporting; they play a slick passing game on their day, just as Bodo (try to) do, and which is a good way of going about things on this sort of surface, although of course the pitch does require some getting used to.  

The second factor is a different story. This match will be played north of the Arctic Circle and as someone who lives in Lisbon, I can tell you this: temperatures over here aren't similar to what they'll be over there on the night.  

Perhaps of greater significance is that Bodo have won all of their last four in this competition against three of Europe's giants. So all in all, there's an argument to be made for the hosts being favourites, not the visitors. But we'll skip it anyway. 

*You can bet on the match and check out all of our Betting Markets on the Bodo/Glimt vs Sporting Odds page on betfred.com

Both Teams to Score and Over 2.5 Goals  

All the evidence is there that this match is going to be full of goals.  

Take Bodo's last 10 matches. In the Norwegian League: 5-0, 2-1, 5-0.  In the Champions League: 2-3, 2-2, 3-1, 1-2, 3-1, 2-1. Last week in the Norwegian Cup: 2-1.  

Sporting, in fairness, have been keeping as few clean sheets in the Portuguese Superliga but then again, they haven't been playing teams of the quality of Bodo and not in such adverse conditions, either. Besides, in Europe, the last time they were in action, they were winning 3-2 in Bilbao and before that it was 2-1 to them at home against PSG. They drew 2-2 this weekend too, remember.  

So if a match looks like it's going to have loads of goals, it probably will. Both teams to score and over 3.5 goals is very tempting at 13/8 but instead I'll go with the more conservative BTTS and over 2.5 goals at 4/5. However, I'll do some for bigger stakes than usual.  

To Score Anytime 

That man Suarez can't stop scoring but is short enough at 11/10 to get on the scoresheet at anytime.  

Instead, I much prefer the 23/10 on Hauge, he of the six Champions League goals already and the player who has netted in five of his last six games.  

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Jamie Pacheco Football P/L 2025/26 (Excludes 3-3-3 column):   

• Points Staked: 30.6    
• Points Returned: 32.67     
• Current P/L: +2.07 

You can check out Jamie's Football Betting Tips along with those from the rest of the Betfred Insights Football writers on our Football home page...