Sporting Lisbon vs Real Madrid Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

Sporting Lisbon’s Champions League dreams are all but extinguished at the moment. They have managed just three points from their opening four games and sit five points adrift of 2nd placed Real Madrid with just two games left to play. They need to win both of their remaining games and for Real Madrid to lose both of theirs in order to qualify.

They have managed to break out of a spell of poor form recently though. They had endured an uncharacteristic four match winless streak in October, but a 3-0 win over Arouca before the international break was following a 5-1 thrashing of Praiense in the Taca de Portugal on Thursday to boost their confidence.

At home they have generally performed pretty well this season, but their defeat when they hosted Borussia Dortmund in October shows that they are by no means invincible on home soil.

Real Madrid have returned to their dominant ways as well. Their 3-0 win away to Atletico Madrid on Saturday was incredibly impressive and leaves them at the top of La Liga, two points ahead of Barcelona. This was their 7th win in their last eight games, and they have scored a huge 33 goals in these eight games.

It was that man Cristiano Ronaldo who stole the show on Saturday as he scored a hat trick, making it ten goals in 13 games in the league and Champions League this season. Eight of these have been away from home as well, so he looks the best choice for our anytime goalscorer predictions as he faces his former club.

The vast majority of Real Madrid’s success this season is based on their attacking play, which is no surprise given the players at their disposal and with Zinedine Zidane at the helm. They have scored at least three goals in seven of their last eight games but have only kept two clean sheets in their last 12.

Sporting have found the net in all of their home matches this season as well, so both teams finding the net looks to have a high probability. Real Madrid are huge favourites for a reason though, and that should be reflected in our predictions. Backing Real Madrid to Win and Both Teams to Score at 15/8 is excellent value, and I’m going for that along with a 3-1 correct score prediction at 10/1.