Young Boys vs Sporting Prediction: Lions to hold strong ahead of Lisbon tie

BSC Young Boys and Sporting CP face off at Stadion Wankdorf in Bern on Thursday evening (KO, 17:45) in the first leg of their Europa League play-off round tie.

The hosts started the season in the Champions League but were handed a tough group featuring Manchester City and RB Leipzig. However, the Swiss side did manage to pick up four points against Crvena zvezda and finish third to keep their European campaign alive in the new year.

Their reward for that achievement, though, is another tricky assignment, in the form of Sporting. The Portuguese outfit finished second in their Europa League group, behind only Atalanta, and the Lions are currently neck and neck with city rivals Benfica in the race for the Primeira Liga title after scoring 12 more goals than any other team in the division.

Team News

Loris Benito is injured for the hosts, who could welcome back Meschak Elia following his return from international duty.

The DR Congo international could line up in attack alongside Cedric Itten and Ebrima Colley, with the latter finding the net in Saturday's 3-3 draw with Lugano.

Sporting are fresh from a 5-0 win over Braga in the league, so Ruben Amorim may opt to keep faith with the starting XI that served him so well on Sunday.

That could mean centre-back Ousmane Diomande has to settle for a place on the bench, after a victorious return from the recent Africa Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast.

Diomande will likely be joined by Marcus Edwards, who will have to be patient with the front three of Trincao, Pedro Goncalves and Viktor Gyokeres in such hot form.

Match Odds

Young Boys are 11/4 to win on Thursday and take the advantage heading into next week's second leg, while the visitors are 19/20 to return to Portugal with victory under their belt. The draw can also be found at 11/4.

Both teams to score landed in five of Sporting's six Europa League group stage games, and it's 8/13 for them to make it a sixth in the competition this week.

Draw or Sporting & BTTS - Yes @ 11/10

Both teams to score hasn't just been popular with Sporting. Despite coming up against a couple of financial heavyweights in Manchester City and RB Leipzig, BTTS - Yes landed in four of Young Boys' six group games in the Champions League, including their two home ties against the top-two.

Ultimately, though, the Swiss side came away from those two matches empty-handed, losing 3-1 in both. Sporting certainly aren't at the level of Pep Guardiola's team, and probably not the Bundesliga outfit either, but they will be confident of at least claiming a draw in Bern on Thursday.

Meschak Elia to score anytime @ 13/5

The DR Congo international hasn't played for his club side since the middle of December, owing to the Swiss winter break and his involvement at the recent Africa Cup of Nations, but the 27-year-old should be in a confident mood if he is selected to play on Thursday.

Elia was a key performer as his nation reached the semi-finals of the competition, scoring the opening goal of the game against Egypt in the Round of 16.

He already has a couple of goals in Europe this season with Young Boys, having fired past both Manchester City and RB Leipzig, and with top scorer Jean-Pierre Nsame having departed for Como in January, the onus will be on the likes of Elia and Cedric Itten to find the goals that will help propel the Swiss side into the Round of 16 stage.

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