Sporting Lisbon vs Atalanta Prediction: Gyokeres to spearhead revenge mission

The Europa League returns this week with seven round of 16 first-leg fixtures lined up for Thursday night. Kicking things off at 17:45 on Wednesday though, are Sporting Lisbon and Atalanta, who face off at the Estadio Jose Alvalade.

The two sides have already met in the group stage of this competition, playing out a 1-1 draw in Bergamo after eventual Group D champions Atalanta won 2-1 in Lisbon. Below we have previewed the clash and offered our Sporting Lisbon vs Atalanta prediction.

Team News

The hosts are expected to be missing a couple of crucial players for the visit of La Dea. Goalkeeper Antonio Adan missed Sunday's 3-2 win over Farense with a thigh injury and Franco Israel looks likely to deputise once more.

Goncalo Inacio was withdrawn at half-time of Sporting's 3-3 draw with Rio Ave on February 25 and hasn't been seen on the field since, so it could be a back-three of Sebastian Coates, Ousmane Diomande and either Matheus Reis or Eduardo Quaresma.

Hidemasa Morita could also return to the starting XI while Liverpool-linked head coach Ruben Amorim must decide between Marcus Edwards or Trincao in attack.

Atalanta have a fully-fit squad for this one but there is still much to ponder for Gian Piero Gasperini after three games without a win.

Ederson should come back into the side after being restricted to a substitute appearance on Sunday and there could also be starts for Aleksey Miranchuk and Gianluca Scamacca, with the latter scoring past Sporting in the last meeting between them in November.

Match Odds

Sporting are fancied at 23/20 to exact revenge on Atalanta and win on Wednesday. The visitors have been given odds of 11/5 to claim victory in the Portuguese capital again, while the draw can be backed at 13/5.

Both teams have scored in five of Sporting's last six matches and it's 8/13 for BTTS - Yes in midweek.

Sporting Lisbon to win @ 23/20

The Italians emerged victorious the last time they visited Lisbon, but was the result merely an outlier? That remains Sporting's only home defeat of the season, and they have won 18 of the other 19 they have played at the Estadio Jose Alvalade in all competitions.

Meanwhile, Atalanta were humbled 4-0 at Inter last week. That's not particularly telling given the form of the runaway Serie A leaders, but La Dea have also failed to beat AC Milan (1-1), AS Roma (1-1), Bologna (0-1), Torino (0-3) and Udinese (1-1) in their last seven away games in the league. Can they turn that form on the road around in the Europa League?

Atalanta also lost at home to Bologna on Sunday and their winless run now stretches to three matches. They've shipped seven in that period, and I just think Sporting's firepower will be too much for them to contain on Wednesday.

Viktor Gyokeres to score first @ 9/2

The 25-year-old has been in red-hot form for the Portuguese giants this season, scoring 32 times in 35 appearances since joining from Coventry City last summer.

His total includes five goals in the Europa League, two of which came in Sporting's two-legged play-off tie with Young Boys last month, and it was his early strike at the Estadio Jose Alvalade which set his side on their way to the 1-1 draw which confirmed their progression into the round of 16.

That was the 10th time this season that Gyokeres had opened the scoring in a game, and at 9/2, he's a good price to make it 11 on Wednesday and score in a fifth consecutive game.

Check out the rest of our Football Betting Tips here.