- Sporting have lost only two of their 18 fixtures on home soil this season
- Dortmund have won just three of their last 13 matches in all competitions
- Recommended Bet: Sporting CP to win

Sporting snuck into the Champions League knockout phase by the skin of their teeth, having taken only one from their final four matches following Ruben Amorim’s departure, but they will be looking to make the most of home advantage in this play-off first leg with Borussia Dortmund.

However, Sporting remain at the top of the Primeira Liga and they are extremely difficult to thwart at the Jose Alvalade Stadium, where they defeated Manchester City 4-1 on Matchday Four.

Dortmund’s troubles this season have been domestically and they find themselves as low as 11th in the Bundesliga, with only 29 points collected from their 21 games.

BVB have been a different beast in the Champions League, though, winning five of their eight matches and suffering defeats only to Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bologna.

Team news

Sporting's 1-1 draw with Bologna in their final game of the league phase saw Morten Hjulmand pick up his third yellow card of the competition so the Danish midfielder must serve a suspension.

The Portuguese hosts are also missing Pedro Goncalve, Joao Simoes and Nuno Santos but Viktor Gyokeres is expected to be fit despite starting on the bench in Friday’s 1-1 draw with Porto.

Dortmund's deadline-day signing Carney Chukwuemeka, who arrived on loan from Chelsea, may have to wait to make his debut having picked up a knock to his knee in training, otherwise Felix Nmecha is the only injury concern for the German side.

The stats

Sporting have lost just two of their 18 fixtures on home soil in all competitions this season.

Dortmund have won just three of their last 13 matches in all competitions and have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of those games.

Five of Sporting's last eight matches have featured fewer than three goals.

Both teams have scored in Sporting’s last five Champions League matches.

Dortmund have won three of their four previous meetings with Sporting.

Equalling Robert Lewandowski with nine goals in the league phase, Serhou Guirassy is bidding to join Lewandowski and Erling Haaland in becoming only the third Dortmund player to score 10 goals in one Champions League season.

Prediction

Borussia Dortmund are enduring a miserable campaign in the Bundesliga and they could come unstuck against a Sporting side that have steadied the ship since Amorim's exit.

After a rocky period, the Portuguese side have now lost just one of their last 12 matches in all competitions and, having suffered only two defeats in 18 home games, this looks a tough task for Dortmund.

The Bundesliga visitors suffered a 2-1 defeat at home to Stuttgart on Saturday, which was their fifth loss in their last eight matches, and they may have benefitted from a soft Champions League schedule.

Dortmund’s wins in Europe this season have come against Club Brugge, Celtic, Sturm Graz, Dinamo Zagreb and Shakhtar Donetsk and they may find this a tougher test against Sporting, who have toppled Lille and Manchester City at home in the Champions League this term.

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