Besiktas vs Sporting Odds & Prediction – Champions League Group Stage Matchday 3

• Besiktas hosts Sporting Lisbon in a Matchday 3 Champions League encounter on Tuesday, October 19th
• Game will be just the third-ever meeting between the teams, following a pair of Europa League clashes six years ago
• Read on for betting odds, a full preview and best bets for this Champions League Matchday 3 clash

The bottom two teams in Group C sit winless and pointless after two games so far in their respective Champions League campaigns. But with back-to-back games against each other over the next two matchdays, a couple of wins for one or the other could transform their European campaign – or at the very least go a long way to locking up a Europa League berth by finishing third.

Besiktas, the reigning Turkish champions, enter this contest in the midst of a slump, having lost three of their past four. Sporting, however, are riding something of a high, with wins in four of their past five games.

Besiktas vs Sporting Odds

Odds as of October 18th at DraftKings

Besiktas Looking for Answers

Although the Istanbul club has been heavily affected by injuries of late, with captain Atiba Hutchinson, Cyle Larin and Miralem Pjanic all missing time, the team needs to get its Champions League campaign righted … and soon. Another loss here would leave it between seven and nine points off the Group C leader – depending on the result between the top two teams, Ajax and Borussia Dortmund – and could put its Champions League campaign on life support.

Beşiktaş has dropped points in 4 of 9 matches this season, which is oddly understandable given the absolutely unprecedented nature of all these injuries…

…what's perhaps the real surprise is that Beşiktaş is only 4 points back! Galatasaray can also count themselves as lucky! pic.twitter.com/qpsmOOdEZx

— Sinan Schwarting (@Sir_Writes_aLot) October 17, 2021

But manager Sergen Yalcin’s problems extend beyond Europe, with the Black Eagles’ defense of a first Turkish championship in four years also listing somewhat. The team has picked up just four of the past 12 points available to it domestically and has dropped to third in the league as a result, behind Trabzonspor and Fenerbahce.

Eagles on the Mend

Though Pjanic will still be missing for Tuesday’s game, along with Mehmet Topal and Georges-Kevin Nkoudou, the Black Eagles are slowly returning to full strength. Larin, last season’s top scorer, came off the bench last Friday in a 3-2 loss to Istanbul Basaksehir, while captain Hutchinson was back after missing out on playing in Canada’s most recent World Cup qualifiers.

Yalcin will be hoping the returnees can help lend some defensive solidity to his squad. After posting clean sheets in the first four league games of the season, the team has given up 11 goals in the last five games.

Sporting Sidelined

While Besiktas was back in Turkish Super Lig action on Friday, Lisbon hasn’t played a league game since before the recent international break, although a second-string lineup did waltz to a 4-0 win over third-division Belenenses in the Portuguese Cup last week.

However, head coach Ruben Amorim is likely to restore stars such as Pedro Porro, Joao Palhinha and Spanish international Pablo Sarabia to the lineup here. However, Pedro Goncalves, who lead the Portuguese league in scoring last year with 23, is still out with a knee injury.

Any club would benefit massively from getting João Palhinha. Sporting, meanwhile, would lose out massively if he was to be sold. What a player. pic.twitter.com/GgggwlYNW2

— Marino Peixoto (@marinovpeixoto) August 20, 2021

Although results haven’t gone Sporting’s way in Europe so far, with a 1-0 defeat against Dortmund last time out following the 5-1 hammering against Ajax in the opener, the team’s defense of the Portuguese title has started brightly. The team is unbeaten through eight games, level with second-placed Porto on points and one point back of leader Benfica, and has conceded just four goals so far.

Besiktas vs Sporting Lisbon 2021-22 Stats

History on Lisbon’s Side

It’s marginal, but in the two meetings between these two teams, back in the 2015-16 Europa League group stage, Sporting emerged with a 3-1 home win following a 1-1 draw in Istanbul.

A bigger historical obstacle for Besiktas may be that this will be the ninth time it is hosting Portuguese opposition and it is yet to win at home in any of the previous eight encounters, losing four and drawing four. In fact, in 16 all-time meetings against Portuguese teams, Besiktas has won just three times. Conversely, Sporting has won three, drawn three and lost just twice in eight all-time meetings with teams from Turkey.

Best bet: Sporting (+130)