Sporting CP v Arsenal Prediction: Gyokeres shots on target the way to go

It's Sporting Lisbon v Arsenal on Tuesday, November 26 (20:00), live on TNT Sports 1 as we look at how the reigning Portuguese champions will cope in this competition without Ruben Amorim for the first time.   

Portugal-based Jamie Pacheco has an 11/8 bet involving the prolific Viktor Gyokeres and a Bet Builder made up of a corners selection and the game's final result as part of his match preview to go along with his Sporting CP vs Arsenal Predictions here at Betfred Insights... 

*You can check out all of our Football Odds over at betfred.com

Sporting Lisbon  

No more Ruben Amorim of course, the former Sporting Lisbon manager having made his long-awaited debut on Sunday for Manchester United in a draw at Ipswich.   

If there's work for Amorim to do at Old Trafford, there's also work for new coach Joao Pereira to do, as well. Whereas his predecessor left him behind a well-oiled machine, it won't be so easy to maintain the momentum and confidence that came from such an excellent start to the campaign.  

Whatever happens from here, Amorim left Sporting in an excellent position in this competition. They're currently second as one of four teams on 10 points, with Sporting's goal difference better than the other three; only Liverpool with four wins from four are above them, so they have a great chance of making the next round.   

In Amorim's last league match in charge two weeks ago they beat Braga 4-2 and under Pereira won 6-0 against Amarante in the Cup on Friday night.  

Regular goalscorer Pedro Goncalves is out injured until January while Zeno Debast hobbled off for Belgium last week and missed that Cup win.  

Possible Starting line-up: Israel, Reis, Debast/Diomande, Inacio, Santos, Morita, Hjumland, Quenda, Braganca, Gyokeres, Trincao.  

Arsenal  

A fine win for the Gunners at the weekend was exactly what they needed after a run of two defeats (Inter and Newcastle) and a draw (Chelsea) threatened to ruin their own good start to the campaign.  

Key to their improved performance was the return to fitness of skipper Martin Odegaard who really sets the tempo for the whole team, something that was missing while he was out injured.  

Arsenal are down in 12th in the Champions League table with seven points so there's plenty of work to be done. Defeat at Inter, a match where they really should have got at least a point, will be seen as a missed opportunity.  

Declan Rice and Kai Havertz were both unused substitutes at the weekend, meaning they should be fresh and raring to go but they'll have to make do without the injured Ben White for a few months.  

Possible Starting line-up: Raya, Timber, Gabriel, Saliba, Calafiori, Partey, Odegaard, Rice, Saka, Trossard, Havertz.  

Sporting CP vs Arsenal Odds

Sporting are 2/1, implied probability 33.3%, with the draw 5/2 (28%) and the Arsenal win 13/10 (43.5%).  

It's worth remembering this is the same Sporting side that beat Manchester City at this very stadium 4-1 just a few weeks ago. Sure, City are going through a real crisis by their standards, but it was the manner of that win that was as impressive as the result itself.  

But of course, all that is very well and good, but we simply don't know how Sporting are going to reinvent themselves after their main man's departure and it's not a big Cup win against lower-league opposition that's going to give us a clue as to that.  

That 2/1 would have looked very big price had Amorim still been around but of course, the odds-compilers take all these things into account.  

But this is still a very strong side who have been excellent in the Champions League and extremely good in all competitions against one that Saturday aside, have been far from their best in recent weeks. With that in mind, the 13/10 on Arsenal looks the worst of the three prices. 

Viktor Gyokeres to have 2+ Shots on Target

So vital could Swedish striker Viktor Gyokeres be in this match that he deserves his own section.  

As a quick reminder, he's scored 24 goals this season from 17 matches at club level, including scoring at least once in seven of his last eight. Across those eight he scored a total of 13 goals including a hat-trick in that win over City, two of those goals coming from the penalty spot.  

You can back him at 7/2 for first goalscorer honours (remembering the odds are doubled if he scores a second thanks to Betfred's ongoing offer) and at 7/5 to score anytime.  

But a good alternative to those is that he manages two or more shots on target at 11/8. He's scored five already this season in the Champions League, putting him in a four-way tie for top goalscorer and has had eight attempts on target in the competition, averaging out at two per game, which would of course be enough if we got those two shots on target here.   

I wouldn't put it past him to deliver for us with two goals, or a goal and another shot on target, or even two shots on target that don't necessarily go in. But as the focus of their attack and a player not afraid to shoot, the bet has plenty going for it.  

Bet Builder  

If Arsenal don't manage to win the game, they might at least win the corners battle.  

Both sides are 2/4 in terms of getting the most corners in their matches in the CL so far which suggests things are pretty even in that regard. But the Gunners have had 21 in total and just seven against them across their four matches, a far better corners return than their hosts, who got 12 for and five against.  

You can back Arsenal to get the most corners at 4/5 and if you add Sporting or the Draw on the Double Chance market at 4/6, the double as a Bet Builder comes to a decent-looking 2/1

Jamie Pacheco predominantly covers Cricket and European Football for us at Betfred Insights. You can check out his Football Betting Tips, along with those from the rest of the team, at our Football hub page...