Sporting Lisbon v Manchester City betting tips: Guardiola seeking first-leg lead

Preview and odds for Tuesday’s Champions League clash

The Champions League knockout stage begins this week and the first of the English teams are in action on Tuesday night as we pick out some Sporting Lisbon v Manchester City betting tips.  

City boss Pep Guardiola will be desperate to bring this trophy back to the blue half of Manchester for the first time and last season’s beaten finalists head into this last-16 contest in fantastic form. They are the 2/7 favourites to take a lead back to the Etihad Stadium, while the hosts are 10/1 to win the first leg.  

Tuesday’s match at the Estadio Jose Alvalade kicks off at 8pm and is live on BT Sport.  

Lions have a sporting chance

Having lost their opening two games in the group stage, the Portuguese champions won their next three to advance to the knockout stage on goal difference. They eliminated Borussia Dortmund, who they beat 3-1 on home soil in November thanks to a Pedro Goncalves brace. 

They are now in the last 16 for the first time since 2008-09 and can’t be underestimated with this fixture only two weeks after they lifted the Portuguese League Cup at the expense of cross-city rivals Benfica and earned a hard-fought draw with Porto last time out in a fiery top-of-the-table clash.  

That Taca de Portugal success was the fourth trophy head coach Ruben Amorim has delivered to the green-and-white side of the city since he has been in the Lisbon dugout and he is a firm favourite of the Lions faithful, having won their first league title in 19 years last season.  

Gonclaves, or Pote as the 23-year-old is affectionately known in the Portuguese capital, helped himself to four goals and an assist in the group stage and was ably assisted by Paulinho who added three goals to the nine he has bagged in the league. 

Both could be instrumental to Lisbon’s chances of progressing to the last eight and are noted in our Sporting Lisbon v Manchester City betting tips. Pote is 4/1 to score at any time, while the 33-year-old Brazilian is 7/2 for the same bet.  

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City seeking silverware

Guardiola’s men are in a commanding position in the defence of their Premier League crown, but it is the Champions League they are desperate to win having come agonisingly close in 2021.  

They will be keen to erase the demons of Porto on their first visit to Portugal since that loss to Chelsea in May and Guardiola will be eager to navigate this round with the minimum of fuss.  

Although this tie has the potential to be a banana skin, they are the favourites in our Champions League winner odds and will be counting their lucky stars they have avoided some of the big names in the draw for now. 

City topped Group A despite a matchday six loss to RB Leipzig, but they will be conscious that both losses in the group stage did come away from home. They head into this last-16 tie looking to extend a six-game unbeaten run away from home and in a worst-case scenario, would be comfortable leaving Portugal with a draw, which is 9/2 in Sporting Lisbon v Manchester City betting tips. 

Riyad Mahrez is City’s leading scorer in this competition this season and could continue his fine form of late to open the scoring at 4/1. The Algeria international is 7/5 to score at any time, while it is 13/8 for him to find the net in a City win. 

Raheem Sterling bagged a hat-trick against Norwich at the weekend and is 50/1 to repeat those heroics here, while the England international is 4/1 to break the deadlock.  

City’s defence was back to their best when keeping the Canaries quiet at Carrow Road and that could lead to the visitors to win either half, score over 1.5 goals and also keeping a clean sheet becoming an option at 15/8.  

Head-to-head 

This is the first meeting between these two sides since 2012 when the pair met in the last 16 of the Europa League.  

Lisbon hosted the first leg then as well and frustrated a City side that included Sergio Aguero and David Silva to record a 1-0 victory.  

If they want to repeat the dose a decade later then the hosts have to be the first side to keep a clean sheet against Manchester City since October, a run that extends back 20 games in all competitions.  

The optimist can back a 1-0 Sporting win at 28/1, while a clean sheet for the hosts is 17/2 in Sporting Lisbon v Manchester City betting tips.  

Key trends 

Having just mentioned City’s proficiency in front of goal and the task at hand for Lisbon to keep them quiet, it also foolish to underestimate the hosts’ own attacking talents and you have to dig right back to September and the group stage of this competition to find the last time Sporting drew a blank.  

That suggests an entertaining game could be on the cards in the Portuguese capital and we go evens for both teams to score at the Estadio Jose Alvalade.  

It is 12/5 for over 3.5 goals in a game featuring both teams scoring in Sporting Lisbon v Manchester City betting tips, while there were four goals in both sides’ weekend league fixtures which makes four or more goals in this one also enticing at 6/4.  

For a #YourCall option you could try over 3.5 total goals, Manchester City to win and both teams to score at 11/4.

View the latest Champions League odds

All odds and markets are correct at the time of publication