Sporting CP vs Borussia Dortmund Prediction: Both keepers & ref to have busy night

Sporting CP haven't found live after Ruben Amorim plain sailing but they still sit top of the Portuguese Premiera Liga and have made the next phase of the Champions League. German giants Borussia Dortmund are up next on Tuesday night with TNT Sports 2 broadcasting the game, with kick-off time set for 20:00.

Jamie Pacheco thinks both teams can score and the referee will have a busy night as he's put together a Bet Builder Double for his preview. Check out his Sporting CP vs Borussia Dortmund Predictions below...

*You can check out all of the Football Odds we offer over at betfred.com

Sporting Lisbon  

Sporting got the draw they needed in their final match at home to Bologna but did it the hard way, conceding early but fighting back to equalise in the 77th minute through a good close range finish by Conrad Harder, who was filling in for the excellent Viktor Gyokeres, who was out injured.  

Gyokeres came off the bench in their 1-1 draw at Porto away on Friday and looked sharper than I thought he'd be so he's probably more likely to start and come off in the second half than start on the bench and come on later, given the importance of the match.  

We'll have to wait and see if the same happens with all-round midfielder Morita, who also came off the bench to lay an important role on Friday.  

They had two players sent off in injury time in Porto but they're obviously available to play in this one.  

Watch out for the brilliant Morten Hjulmand, who does the lot: captains the side, shields the defence, can act as a playmaker and occasionally even chips in with a goal or two. He'll surely be sold to a big team for a big fee in the next year.  

Likely XI: Silva, Araujo, Fresneda, Inacio, Diomande, Braganca, Debast/Morita, Hjulmand, Quenda, Trincao, Gyokeres/Harder.    

Dortmund 

Dortmund finished in an impressive 10th place in the group stages, with five wins and three defeats. The last of those wins was a 3-1 victory over Shakhtar last time out with Guinean striker Serhou Guirassy getting a brace, meaning he now has 18 goals for the season in all competitions.  

But things certainly aren't going as smoothly on the domestic front as they're currently just 11th so they really need to get through here as it's looking unlikely they'll be in this competition again next year.  

They lost 2-1 at home to Stuttgart at the weekend but presumably had one eye on this match.  

Likely XI: Kobel, Schlotterbeck, Bensebaini, Can, Ryerson, Brandt, Sabitzer, Adeyemi, Gittens, Guirassy, Beier.   

Sporting CP vs Borussia Dortmund Odds 

Sporting are 13/10, implied probability of 43.5%, with Dortmund 21/10 (32.3%) and the draw 5/2 (28.6%).  

Last time out we were on the money in opposing them at home at 2/5 to Bologna by getting with the draw and the Germans on the Double Chance market.   

Had they been odds-on, we may have gone with the same strategy but with Sporting at a far bigger price this time, you're only getting 4/6 this time on Dortmund or the draw, and that's not quite big enough to have us interested.  

The other point to make here is the difference that having Gyokeres and to a lesser extent Morita may have on the outcome of the match. If they both play, Sporting are a far better side and those odds look about right. If Gyokeres doesn't start, by all means oppose them if the prices remain almost the same. But best wait for those line-ups. Either way, we'll leave this market alone. 

Bet Builder  

Instead, we'll go with a Bet Builder.  

Both sides are on a strong run of both teams to score matches with it paying out in four of Sporting's last five and in all of Dortmund's last five games, too. It would also have been a winner in each of Dortmund's last three games in this competition and all of Sporting's last five in Europe as well, so the stats are certainly in our favour.  

Another winner for us last time from our second bet was to go high on bookings against Bologna and there were nine in the game so that won easily.  

Neither Sporting nor Dortmund are too near the top of the table for indiscipline with the Portuguese side getting 16 yellows so far and Dortmund 14 so we'll be a bit more conservative this time and go with over 39.5 points at 4/9, meaning we need four yellows or two yellows and a red.  

Norwegian ref Espen Eskas is averaging three and a half yellows a game this season and handed out two reds so it could be close. But given the importance of the match, hopefully the players will feel a booking or two may be justified, in the circumstances, for the greater good.  

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...