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Two sides desperately needing a win go head-to-head in Group C of the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday as Besiktas welcome Sporting Lisbon to Vodafone Park.
Both sides will be looking to get one over the other and get their campaign up and running. They find themselves at the wrong end of the group standings after losing their opening two group games.
It has been a bumpy ride in the Champions League so far for Turkish champions Besiktas. Sergen Yalcin’s men opened their campaign with a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Borussia Dortmund on 15 September.
This was followed by a 2-0 loss against Ajax, when Steven Berghuis and Sébastien Haller netted first-half goals to hand the Eredivisie champions all three points.
Besiktas head into Tuesday’s game off the back of a 3-2 loss to Basaksehir and are on a run of three losses from their last four games.
Meanwhile, Sporting Lisbon have failed to carry on their domestic dominance into Europe as they are currently rock-bottom in Group C of the Champions League.
While Ruben Amorim’s men are unbeaten in the Primeira Liga, they have failed to pick up a point from their two Champions League games, losing to Dortmund and Ajax.
Sporting Lisbon head into Tuesday’s game off the back of an emphatic 4-0 win over C.F. Os Belenenses in the Taca de Portugal and will be looking to carry on the momentum from that performance.
Besiktas vs Sporting Lisbon Head-To-Head
This will be the third-ever meeting between the two sides, with Sporting Lisbon being the superior side in the two previous meetings. The Portuguese side were unbeaten on both occasions, claiming one win and one draw.
Besiktas Form Guide (all competitions): D-L-L-W-L
Sporting Lisbon Form Guide (all competitions): W-W-L-W-W
Besiktas vs Sporting Lisbon Team News
Besiktas
Kenan Karaman, Ajdin Hasic, Mehmet Topal, Miralem Pjanic and Georges-Kevin N'Koudou are all on the club’s injury table and will sit out the game.
Injured: Kenan Karaman, Ajdin Hasic, Mehmet Topal, Miralem Pjanic, Georges-Kevin N'Koudou
Suspended: None
Sporting Lisbon
Manchester City loanee Pedro Porro remains the only injury concern for the visitors as the Spaniard is currently recuperating from an ankle problem.
Injured: Pedro Porro
Suspended: None
Besiktas vs Sporting Lisbon Predicted XI
Besiktas Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Mert Günok; Valentin Rosier, Welinton, Domagoj Vida, Rıdvan Yılmaz; Atiba Hutchinson, Souza; Rachid Ghezzal, Oğuzhan Özyakup, Güven Yalçın; Michy Batshuayi
Sporting Lisbon Predicted XI (3-4-3): Antonio Adán; Luís Neto, Sebastián Coates, Zouhair Feddal; Ricardo Esgaio, Matheus Nunes, João Palhinha, Matheus Reis; Pablo Sarabia, Tiago Tomás, Paulinho
Besiktas vs Sporting Lisbon Prediction
Both sides have struggled to get going in Europe and will head into the game looking for all three points to kick off their campaign. The hosts have suffered a dip in form in recent weeks and we predict Sporting Lisbon will take advantage of that to claim all three points, albeit by a narrow margin.
Prediction: Besiktas 1-2 Sporting Lisbon
