Tottenham's perfect home record across all competitions was ended by Newcastle on Sunday. Can they return to winning ways when they welcome Sporting in the Champions League? George Gamble picks out a best bet.
Football betting tips: Champions League
2pts Both teams to score at 4/5 (Betfred)
Sporting Lisbon were able to put a run of two successive defeats behind them as they ran out 3-1 winners of Casa Pia over the weekend to put themselves back into the top four of the Portuguese top flight.
They were victorious over Spurs in the reverse fixture and another win here could potentially lift them into the top spot of Group D.
Antonio Conte made it clear that he expects to be backed in the next transfer window as his squad struggles to handle their heavy schedule of fixtures, which isn’t helped by the number of injuries to key players such as Dejan Kulusevski and Richarlison.
Tottenham Hotspur will have the advantage of facing a Sporting Lisbon outfit that will be without a number of key defenders for this one due to both injuries and suspensions. However, It’s difficult to confidently back the hosts to win this one, despite their excellent home record overall across all competitions this term, and there is no value in doing so given a home win is at a best price of just 12/25.
Just three points separate top and bottom of Group D which means a loss could be incredibly damaging to hopes of qualifying for the next round. But Sporting Lisbon currently occupy the third spot and won’t want to rely on results elsewhere.
The Portuguese outfit likes to play on the front foot and will look to carry out a similar game plan that saw them emerge victorious against Spurs in Portugal back in September.
Neither of these two sides have looked convincing at the back, particularly the visitors who have conceded at least once in all of their previous seven outings across all competitions. Antonio Conte clearly prefers to put numbers in the midfield but they were sloppy against Newcastle at the weekend and a number of individual errors contributed to the defeat against the Magpies.
The fixtures are coming thick and fast for both sides and this looks to be a clash that will provide plenty of opportunities for BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE.
Most bookmakers have both teams to score priced up at around 8/11 and so the 4/5 available for the same selection makes plenty of appeal.
Tottenham v Sporting best bets and score prediction
- 2pts Both teams to score at 4/5 (Betfred)
Score prediction: Tottenham 2-1 Sporting (Sky Bet odds: 13/2)
Odds correct at 1130 BST (25/10/22)
More from Sporting Life
- Fixtures, results and live scores
- Expert xG analysis and features
- Transfer news and done deal
- Football and other sports tips
- Download our free iOS and Android app
- Podcasts and video content
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.