Preview: Sporting Lisbon vs Lille – Predictions, Team News, Lineups

Marking their first ever Champions League meeting, Sporting Lisbon AND Lille will take place on Tuesday at the Estadio Jose Alvalade, inaugurating the new phase of the league.

While Portuguese champions Sporting are playing at full speed in Ruben Amorimtheir guests from France continue to demand consistency following the change in management.

Match preview

© Imago

An increasingly powerful side on the continent, the resurgent Sporting have reached the knockout stages of UEFA competitions three times in a row – once in the Champions League and twice in the Europa League.

In the second division, the Lisbon club finished second in their group behind eventual champions Atalanta BC, then beat Young Boys 4-2 in the two-legged knockout stage to set up a second-leg clash with La Dea in the round of 16.

Atalanta won the two-legged tie but Sporting still finished an impressive Primeira Liga campaign by claiming their 20th league title with 90 points – 10 points clear of arch-rivals Benfica.

Despite opening the 2024-25 season with a defeat to Porto in the Portuguese Supertaca, the Lions have an unblemished league record so far, with Ruben Amorim fending off a number of foreign interests as he looks to stay at the Estadio Alvalade and lead the team to victory in five of their five matches.

They are already five points ahead, they have scored 19 goals and conceded only two, and their best striker Victor Gyokeres in excellent form – the Swedish star scored his 50th goal in 55 appearances for Sporting in a 2-0 home win over Porto.

Returning to the Champions League after a year away, the Lions may be dominating domestically but have lost seven of their last 12 European matches in Lisbon, a record they will certainly need to improve if they are to survive the 36-team league stage.

© Imago

Lille last played in the Champions League three years ago, when they reached the knockout stages for only the second time in their history, winning the group before losing to Chelsea in the round of 16.

Les Dogues have never progressed beyond this stage of UEFA’s top club competition, but they reached the quarter-finals of the Europa Conference League last season, losing only on penalties to Aston Villa.

They had previously gone unbeaten, winning five and drawing three, but their dreams of Ligue 1 glory were dashed once again.

Lille have won just two of their last nine away matches in Europe, but a penalty in extra time Jonathan David was enough to secure promotion in Istanbul last month, beating Fenerbahçe in the third qualifying round of the Champions League.

Shortly afterwards, the French club fought a tough play-off match against Slavia Prague, winning 3-2 on aggregate and securing their place in Europe’s top flight.

He replaced the coach going to Milan Paulo Fonseca With Bruno Genesio After finishing fourth in Ligue 1 last summer, Lille won their first two league games before losing their next two, most recently suffering a 1-0 defeat at Saint-Etienne on Friday.

Ahead of their match against mighty Real Madrid in the second round, Genesio’s charges will be looking to put an end to this slump by defeating Sporting.

Sporting Lisbon’s form (all competitions):

Lille’s form in the Champions League:

Lille form (all competitions):

Team News

© Imago

A powerful attack involving Pedro Goncalves, Francisco Trincao and Viktor Gyokeres is expected to start for the hosts on Tuesday, with the latter having already scored eight goals for Sporting this season, including three away to Farense.

In total, Gyokeres has scored 11 goals and provided five assists for club and country, while he has also scored in all three of his previous home starts in Europe.

However, Ruben Amorim may not have his first-choice goalkeeper because Vladan Kovacevic I recently injured my ankle during training and Franco Israel had to fill in between the sticks on Friday. The centre-back Jeremiah St. Juste is certainly unavailable.

Lille welcomed Mitchell Bakker to his squad this weekend, but Ethan Mbappé left the event due to a minor injury; Ngal’ayel Mukau, Hakon Haraldsson AND Ismaili – Amorim’s former teammate from Braga – still not playing.

Rafael Fernandes AND Tiago Santos both came through Sporting’s youth ranks, and the latter could feature on the right wing upon his return to Lisbon.

Helper Angel Gomes He recently made his England debut and is expected to join the Kosovo winger after a rest on Friday Edon Żegrowa in a supporting cast of star attacker Jonathan David, who has been LOSC’s top scorer over the last three Ligue 1 seasons.

Possible starting lineup for Sporting Lisbon:
Franco; Debast, Diomande, Inacio; Quenda, Morita, Hjulmand, Catamo; Trincao, Goncalves; Gyokeres

Lille’s possible starting lineup:
Single; Meunier, Mandi, Diakit; Santos, Andre, Gomes, Gudmundsson; Żegrowa, Cabella; David

We say: Sporting Lisbon 2-1 Lille

Sporting beat Lille twice in the Europa League group stage 14 years ago and the clubs’ first Champions League match should go the same way.

Not only have the hosts suffered just one defeat in 28 league matches, but they have also won all of their last 19 at home. With the support of their devoted fans, they will start the league stage with three valuable points.

To see a data analysis of most probable scores, results and more for this match, click here.

Email previews