Champions League
2026-10-21 - Sporting Lisbon vs LASK
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: UEFA Champions League Match Day 3
Wednesday 21st October 2026 - Kick Off 8pm
This game is live on TV
Sporting
When you look at the top eight finishers in the Champions League last season, Sporting Lisbon's name is perhaps the biggest surprise. However, they backed that up by earning a spot in the Quarter Final of the competition and were only narrowly beaten by Arsenal 1-0 on aggregate, which will have given the squad belief as they return to the Champions League Group Stage.
Last season 16 points took Sporting into 7th place in the Champions League standings and they are looking for another strong performance in the League Phase having opened with wins over Galatasaray and Lens. Home form has been a huge edge for Sporting who had won 5 in a row here before the 0-1 defeat to Arsenal in the Champions League Quarter Final First Leg. The side have already beaten Galatasaray 3-1 here this season.
Sporting are unbeaten in 10 games played in all competitions in the 2026/27 season and they have won 7 of those matches. They had won 6 in a row at home in all competitions going back to last season, but Sporting were held to a 2-2 draw by Arouca most recently and they are 6 points behind defending Portuguese Champions Porto who are leading the domestic Division.
A few members of the squad are going to have to shake off injury concerns if they are going to take part on Match Day 3 of the Champions League.
LASK
After a thumping loss in Glasgow in the Champions League Play Off Round First Leg, LASK are just going to be grateful that they were able to overturn the odds and make their way into the League Phase of the competition. This is another big gap to bridge for the Austrian Champions and LASK have begun with consecutive defeats in the League Phase, which makes Qualification for the Knock Out Rounds a difficult task to achieve.
Two years ago LASK competed in the Conference League and failed to make it through the Group Stage of the competition and they have suffered defeats to AEK Athens and Liverpool within this Champions League Group Stage. The defeat in Athens means LASK have lost 9 away European ties in succession.
LASK are 5 points behind Rapid Vienna in the Austrian Bundesliga and they had won 1 of the previous 6 games in all competitions before a thumping win at Austria Lustenau this past weekend. The side had suffered back to back away defeats and a 3-3 draw at Hartberg before that win last time out.
George Bello and Moses Usor are both expected to miss this trip to Lisbon.
Head to Head
These two clubs met in the 2019/20 Europa League Group Stage and both Sporting and LASK earned home wins over the other.
However, it was LASK who upset Sporting in the 2020/21 Europa League Play Off Qualifying Round by winning 1-4 here.
Prediction
A lot of time has passed since Sporting and LASK last faced one another in a competitive fixture and the former are much stronger than the team that were hammered 1-4 here by the Austrian opponents in a Europa League Play Off Round tie.
LASK do arrive as the Austrian Champions, but they have been struggling for consistency in recent weeks and the two defeats in the Champions League have been a reminder of the gap to bridge.
Losing at AEK Athens will have stung in particular and makes it 9 straight away European defeats for LASK ahead of this game in Lisbon.
Now they have to face a Sporting team that have scored a lot of goals at home both domestically and in Europe and one that reached the Champions League Quarter Final last season. Sporting used the dominant form at home to guide that run and they look to have far too much firepower for the visiting team to handle.
Making hay through the first four Champions League fixtures is the plan for Sporting Lisbon who have a much tougher set of games in the second half of the League Phase. Back to back wins over Galatasaray and Lens will have given Sporting a real boost and they can use the attacking qualities to overwhelm LASK and produce a relatively comfortable win.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Sporting Lisbon 3-0 LASK
