Red-hot Barcelona travel across the Iberian Peninsula to Portugal to go toe-to-toe with Sporting Lisbon on Wednesday night in search of their second win in as many UEFA Champions League Group D games. In our OddsDigger Sporting CP vs Barcelona preview we assess how accurate the latest football betting odds are and how on the money their prediction for the outcome is. Are Barca just too strong for their Portuguese counterparts?
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The home team began their Group D campaign with a great win in Greece over Olympiakos before today’s Sporting CP vs Barcelona betting tips. They have already matched their points haul from last year’s UCL group stage, where they won one and lost the other five of their six ties. Jorge Jesus will be hoping for a big improvement this year.
Just a month ago, Barca had been described as a club in crisis following a tumultuous start to their 2017/18 campaign. Los Cules have silenced their critics in the weeks leading to this week’s Sporting CP vs Barcelona predictions, winning seven games on the trot and scoring a mesmeric twenty-three times in the process.
Despite both being regulars on the European stage, the teams have met just twice previously in the group stage of the Champions League in 2008/09. Over two exciting matches, Barca emerged victorious on each occasion, winning 5-2 in Portugal and 3-1 in Spain.
With Barca’s strength pushing the bookmaker’s odds into the realms of poor value for the outright markets, our first selection from today’s Sporting CP vs Barcelona bets is found amongst the goals offers. Currently, Los Cules are providing fans with plenty of excitement having been involved in five over 2.5 goals matches in succession. In five of the home team’s eight fixtures in 2017/18 there has also been over 2.5 goals scored. Sporting have only failed to score once in their last eight and with goal hungry Barca, it makes sense that the over 2.5 goal target should be achieved with relative ease. Barca have actually scored in twenty of their last twenty one attempts, which is unsurprising given the talent in their team. Ladbrokes have some excellent value if you want to back our goal market tip.
It’s always tempting to include Lionel Messi to score in any Champions League soccer predictions you make, but the little Argentinian wizard is so good, you are often left with odds of little value to work with. His teammate Luis Suarez can be just as deadly in front of goal and with him slowly returning to form following injury, you can get very lucrative odds on him to score anytime on Wednesday. Suarez bagged Barca’s 3rd goal at Girona at the weekend, giving him just the boost we need to make him a great inclusion for our bet. The Uruguayan has a knack for producing goals on the European stage and has bagged eighteen goals in just twenty nine Champions League appearances for the Catalan club. Coral have an amazing selection of odds at great prices for the goal scorer markets and they are the bookies we choose to use today.