Preview: RB Leipzig vs. Sporting Lisbon – prediction, team news, lineups

Sporting Lisbon will look to get theirs Champions League campaign back on track when faced with a RB Leipzig page that has already been eliminated.

Back-to-back defeats in this competition until the end of 2024 saw Sporting plummet down in the standingswhile Leipzig are rooted to the bottom, with six defeats from six.

Match preview

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An already dismal campaign had yet another low over the weekend Marco Rose‘s Leipzig as they squandered a 3–0 lead to draw with bottom of the table Bochum in The Bundesliga.

To be without Benjamin Sesko and Lois Openda following their red card in the defeat in Stuttgart, Rose will have been delighted to see his men blow away Bochum inside the first 45 minutes until a Myron Boadu the hat-trick brought the hosts back level and ultimately saw Leipzig drop out of the top four.

Their two star strikers will return here, but even with their quality, RB have been unable to pick up a single point in the Champions League so far and another defeat here will see them equal the record for most consecutive UCL losses of a German club – currently owned by Bayer Leverkusen (seven in 2002-03).

However, Leipzig are not alone at the bottom of the table with zero points, as Swiss strugglers Young Boys and debutants Slovan Bratislava are also yet to get off the mark this season.

This will be a difficult test for a team that has been hopeless on the continent, but with Sturm Graz coming up on matchday eight, Leipzig will be hugely disappointed if they end the campaign still without a point.

Die Roten Bullen’s clashes with Portuguese clubs have often gone quite well, suffering just one defeat in four meetings against Porto back in 2017.

However, Sporting had a very enjoyable night last time they visited Germany in the Champions League, sweeping Eintracht Frankfurt aside 3-0, but they will need to regain some consistency if they are to enjoy a repeat here.

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The shape has fallen off a cliff since Reuben Amorim traveled to Manchester United with his replacement João Pereira already fired.

Under Pereira, Sporting lost 5-1 at home to Arsenal and away to Club Brugge on matchday six after Amorim had taken 10 points from a possible 12 before his departure.

It leaves the Lions on the brink of their longest losing run in this competition for almost a decade, but the positive is that results have picked up since Rui Borges Got the job right after Christmas.

Pereira suffered four successive defeats, including at home to Santa Clara and away at Moreirense, and was then sacked on 25 December, with Borges coming in and recording home wins over both Porto and Benfica.

The new manager has suffered huge disappointment already in his short spell, losing the Taca da Liga final to Benfica earlier this month, but a 3-0 win at Rio Ave along with Porto’s defeat to Gil Vicente at the weekend means that they sit on three points. clear by top of the Primeira Liga.

Attention now turns to the Champions League and it is likely that just one more point will be required for Sporting to be assured of a play-off spot, while two wins would give them an outside chance of breaking into the top eight, with Bologna at . home to get to match day eight.

RB Leipzig Champions League form:

RB Leipzig form (all competitions):

Sporting Lisbon Champions League form:

Sporting Lisbon form (all competitions):

Team news

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Leipzig is set to be without an injured trio Xaver Schlager, Castello Lukeba and Andrew Silva until February at the earliest, but West Ham are understood to have inquired about the latter over a potential move this month.

Yussuf Poulsen returned after two months out injured at the weekend but a place on the bench is likely for him, with Sesko and Openda available again after suspension.

Benjamin Henrichs misses the rest of the season with a serious leg injury, so re-signing Ride Baku has stepped in and started the last two games at right wing-back in his place.

Pedro Goncalves is set to be the big miss for Sporting after he did not take part in training ahead of this meeting.

Potentially joining Goncalves on the touchline is a defensive trio Eduardo Quaresma, Nuno Santos and Matheus Reiswhere all three are also absent from training, but Viktor Gyokeres was set to return to the starting XI after scoring as a late substitute at the weekend, scoring a sixth goal in four games.

Sporting have already entered the transfer market this month, signing the Real Betis keeper Rui Silva loaned out for the rest of the season and he has immediately taken over the place Franco Israelwhen he returned to Portugal after eight years in Spain.

RB Leipzig possible starting line-up:
Gulac; Geertruida, Orban, Klostermann; Baku, Vermeer, Seiwald, Raum; Simons, Openda, Sesko

Sporting Lisbon possible starting line-up:
Rui Silva; Fresneda, Diomande, St Juste, Quenda; Catamo, Morita, Wheelman; Trincao, Gyokeres, Araujo

We say: RB Leipzig 2-3 Sporting Lisbon

Entertainment is often guaranteed when Leipzig are involved, but none of that has gone in their favor in this Champions League campaign so far.

A few weeks ago, Sporting were losing every time they took to the field, but results have steadily improved and they will feel confident of returning to form on the continent here to secure their place in the knockouts.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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