UEFA Cup
2008-04-10 - Sporting Lisbon vs Glasgow Rangers
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
UEFA Cup - Quarter Finals
Thursday 10th April 2008 - KO 19:45 GMT
SPORTING LISBON (PORTUGAL)
Sporting will look to complete another home win in this competition as they look to make the semi final after drawing 0-0 last week in Glasgow. Sporting sit in 4th position in Portugal, and are 2 points behind Benfica in the race for the 2nd Champions League spot. Sporting are 9-3-0 at home this season where they have scored 28 goals and conceded just 8.
Lisbony entered the UEFA Cup after coming 3rd in their Champions League group where they were 1-1-1 at home. They have beaten Basle and Bolton in previous rounds in this cup, and have yet to concede a goal in this tournament.
Sporting have won 4 of their last 5 games in all competition, gaining clean sheets in 3 of those games. They have only lost 1 of their last 9 games. Sporting have a 17 game unbeaten run at home since Manchester United won here, and they have won 11 of their last 12. They also have 5 clean sheets at home in their last 7 games.
Anderson Polga will miss this game. Gladstone is expected to replace him in the side. Sporting have no other injury worries.
GLASGOW RANGERS (SCOTLAND)
Rangers have a 7 point lead at the top of the Scottish Premier, have already won the Scottish League Cup, are in the semi final of the Scottish FA Cup and will be hoping to continue their quest for the 'Quad' in this competition. They have an 8-3-2 away record where they have scored 27 and conceded 15. Their away defence is the best in the Scottish league.
Rangers also took part in the Champions League this season before falling into the UEFA Cup. In their group they had a 1-0-2 away record and so far they have 1 draw and 1 defeat away from home in this competition. Rangers will take heart from the fact they beat Panathinaikos on away goals earlier in the competition after a 0-0 draw at home in the 1st leg.
Since being knocked out of the Champions League, Rangers have lost just 1 game in their next 27 in all competitions. The defeat came at Bremen away in the last round after Rangers won 2-0 at home. They have, however, drawn 3 of their last 5 games. Rangers have 1 defeat in their last 10 games away from home. They will be given confidence in knowing they have only failed to score in 4 away games so far this season, although 3 of those were in Europe. However, on closer inspection, one game was at Barcelona, one at Bremen when protecting a 2-0 lead and one at Red Star in a Champions League qualifier.
David Weir misses this game through suspension and will be replaced by Christian Dailly. Carlos Cueller is fit which is a boost to Rangers' defence and Daniel Cousin is available for selection. Charlie Adam is out for a few weeks.
HEAD TO HEAD
Sporting and Rangers played out a 0-0 draw last week in Glasgow, and while it is clear that Sporting enjoyed a lot of possession, it was Rangers who had the best chances to win the game. I expect this game to follow a similar pattern to last week in the context of possession.
PREDICTION :
Rangers have proved their steel away from home this season in both the Champions League and UEFA Cup and have progressed in this competition with 2 impressive away results.
Sporting were disappointing in their games with a weakened Bolton in the last round and I feel Rangers can score the goal that is likely to put them through.
The game is most likely going to be dominated by Sporting in terms of possession, but I think Rangers will do enough to not lose here.
The Pick :
SPORTING LISBON 1-1 GLASGOW RANGERS
Gooner’s Statistical Value Bet
GLASGOW RANGERS + 0.5 ASIAN HANDICAP
