Sporting Lisbon vs Arouca Predictions

• Fewer than four goals have been scored in seven of Sporting’s last eight home games
• Fewer than four goals have been scored in nine of Arouca’s last ten away league trips
• Each of Arouca’s last nine games have featured no more than two goals.

Sporting should be swerved this week

Sporting Lisbon and Arouca could serve up a good game this weekend, but the oddsmakers’ expectation for a goal-laden affair seem to be well wide of the mark.

Os Leoes have been keeping a very good ratio of clean sheets in their home league contests this term – two for every one that they don’t and they will also have one eye on the upcoming Europa League quarter-final second leg.

The success of their season rests on beating Juventus, overturning the 1-0 deficit from Turin, and going all the way to Budapest because Champions League qualification through the league is looking very difficult. Ruben Amorim is therefore likely to rest some key players on Sunday, which could also reduce the potency of the home side.

Arouca rarely get drawn into open games

Arouca are not the sort of team that get caught up in open, attacking affairs, judging by their numbers, which reveal a team with the joint-lowest ratio of over 2.5 goal games in Portugal’s top flight. Only two of their 13 total away league games have seen more than three goals scored, which suggests the 4/7 on offer for this game to feature under 3.5 goals is worth snapping up.

A 2-1 Sporting win is the correct score forecast that suits the situation best of all as the hosts cannot completely give up on the league campaign and will throw quality on from the bench if they need to push for a win later in the game.

You can watch live sport on your mobile, tablet or desktop including Soccer, Tennis and Basketball. All you need is a funded account or to have placed a bet in the last 24 hours to qualify. Geo location and live streaming rules apply.