The Big Wednesday Multiple: Sporting to book their place in the Europa League

Paul Robinson
07 December 2016

Can Sporting secure a place in the Europa League?

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It's that time of the week where Paul Robinson selects a home win, an away win, a match to go over 2.5 goals and a match to go under 2.5 goals. Here are his selections...

- Back Porto @ 1.33 (1/3)
- Back Sporting Lisbon @ 1.8 (4/5)
- Back Over 2.5 Goals in Bayer Leverkusen v Monaco @ 1.8 (4/5)
- Back Under 2.5 Goals in Tottenham v CSKA Moscow @ 2.05 (21/20)

The Multiple pays approximately 8.83 (8/1)

Bet 1: Porto (HOME) @ 1.33 (1/3)

Leicester City may have already wrapped up Group G but Porto still need to win to guarantee their place in the last 16 and given Leicester's recent struggles, the victory should be a formality for the Portuguese club.

It hasn't been a vintage year for Nuno Espírito Santo's side as they are only third in their domestic league after a dozen games and they only have eight points from five fixtures in Europe - which isn't great considering who they were drawn against.

Nevertheless, they ended a five match winless streak at the weekend by beating Braga and they did this on the same day that Leicester were losing to Sunderland.

The Foxes may have been able to turn it on in this competition thus far but they are getting progressively worse as the season progresses and they have no real motivation to get a result this evening - especially when they have a big game against Man City on Saturday.

Bet 2: Sporting Lisbon (AWAY) @ 1.8 (4/5)

The second Portuguese victory of the evening will hopefully come in Poland as Sporting Lisbon seem like decent enough value to take all three points and qualify for the Europa League.

The visitors actually only need a draw to continue their European campaign and while it's hardly great to have just three points from five Group F fixtures, that doesn't quite tell the whole story.

Jorge Jesus' men lost all four games against Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund, but they only went down by a single goal on each occasion and against the Spanish club they conceded late goals in both matches.

Their sole victory came against Legia Warsaw - a 2-0 win - and while the hosts did manage to hold Real Madrid on this ground at the beginning of November, they've actually now just won three of their last dozen in front of their own fans - and most of those were against teams who are a level or two below this evening's opponents.

Bet 3: Bayer Leverkusen v Monaco (Over 2.5 goals) @ 1.8 (4/5)

If it's goals you're after then the one team in Europe to follow this season has been Monaco. The French outfit have been explosive this term and I don't see why that should change this evening.

This is a dead rubber as Leverkusen can't move from second and Monaco are four points clear at the top. The match really could go either way but one thing we should be assured of is goals.

Monaco have had 15 of their last 19 finish with the ball in the net on three occasions or more and they've had plenty of big scorelines during that run - they beat Bastia 5-0 on Saturday for instance.

Leverkusen aren't shy in front of goal either as half a dozen of their last 10 have seen over 2.5 backers collect and that includes three of their five most recent outings in front of their own fans.

Bet 4: Tottenham v CSKA Moscow (Under 2.5 goals) @ 2.05 (21/20)

The other fixture in Group E is a more intriguing affair as Tottenham still need a point to qualify for the Europa League - but deep down, do they really want to be playing Thursday night football.

It will be hugely interesting to see what kind of a side Mauricio Pochettino puts out at Wembley - especially when they have to go to Old Trafford on Sunday.

For those reasons of uncertainty, I think under 2.5 at odds-against seems reasonable. CSKA aren't the team of a few years ago where all their Champions League games were seemingly goal-fests. This year three of their five have gone under 2.5 and that includes the reverse fixture against Spurs.

Tottenham have also had three of their five end with the ball in the net on two occasions or fewer and they have only scored once in three hours of football at Wembley.

The Multiple pays approximately 8.83 (8/1)

Multiple prices are based on our Sportsbook product, so any winnings are exempt from commission.

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