Besiktas vs Sporting Lisbon Betting Tips

Besiktas got the win they needed in their opening Europa League group game, they stole a 1-0 win over Skenderbeu away from home. They also scored a huge domestic victory this weekend, beating Fenerbache 3-2 at home. What will they have in store as the favourites against Sporting Lisbon on Thursday night?

As with many Eastern European based clubs, Besiktas are a tough team to travel and face. They have some players that go hard moving forward, but they’ll also put together a pretty good structure defensively.

It’ll be interesting to see whether Sporting Lisbon has an answer for it after opening their Europa League campaign in the worst possible way, losing 3-1 to Lokomotiv Mosocow.

There’s a problematic dynamic with this current Sporting side in European football and it’s evident in their Primeira Liga play (where they are still positioned strongly in the table). They are a little vulnerable at the back, as shown in their game against Lokomotiv, but they are not precise or efficient at the other end of the field either. In recent Portuguese domestic play, they just about edged past Nacional, but were then held to a 0-0 draw by Boavista.

Three Reasons for Betting Tips

1. Home field advantage

They’re a good football team and we think Besiktas will take advantage of some friendly home field advantage on Thursday night, picking up an important three points in their Europa League campaign.

2. Sporting’s lack of finish

We’ll ignore the three goals they conceded in their opening group game, but we can trust this team to score the goals that they need to win games. They’ll get put under pressure by Besiktas here.

3. Long-odd favourites

It’s a tricky game for the bookies and they’ve shown it with some long odds on the 6/4 favourites Besiktas. We think it’s an opportunity in this case with the game taking place in Turkey and considering the two teams’ respective form books.