Sporting Lisbon will look to get their Champions League campaign back on track when they face an RB Leipzig side who have already been eliminated.
Back-to-back defeats in this competition to end 2024 saw Sporting plummet down the standings, while Leipzig are rooted to the bottom, with six defeats from six.
Match preview
© Imago
An already dismal campaign had another low at the weekend for Marco Rose's Leipzig, as they squandered a 3-0 lead to draw with bottom-of-the-table Bochum in the Bundesliga.
Being without Benjamin Sesko and Lois Openda after their red cards in the defeat at Stuttgart, Rose will have been delighted to see his men blow Bochum away inside the first 45 minutes, until a Myron Boadu hat trick hauled 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 by a German club - currently held by Bayer Leverkusen (seven in 2002-03).
Leipzig are not alone at the bottom of the standings with nul points though, as Swiss strugglers Young Boys and debutants Slovan Bratislava are also yet to get off the mark this season.
This will be a tricky test for a side who have been hopeless on the continent, but with Sturm Graz to come 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.
Sporting had a very enjoyable evening the last time they visited Germany in the Champions League though, sweeping Eintracht Frankfurt aside 3-0, but they must regain some consistency if they are to enjoy any repeat here.
© Imago
Form has fallen off a cliff since Ruben Amorim left for Manchester United, with his replacement Joao Pereira already sacked.
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.
That leaves the Lions on the brink of their longest losing run in this competition in almost a decade, but the positive is that results have picked up since Rui Borges was given the job just after Christmas.
Pereira suffered four straight defeats, including at home to Santa Clara, and away at Moreirense, and was then sacked on December 25, with Borges coming in and recording home wins over both Porto and Benfica.
The new manager has suffered a huge disappointment already though in his brief tenure, losing the Taca da Liga final to Benfica earlier this month, but a 3-0 win at Rio Ave paired with Porto's defeat at Gil Vicente this weekend means they sit three points clear at the top of the Primeira Liga.
Attention now turns to the Champions League though, and it is likely that only one more point will be required for Sporting to be assured of a playoff spot, while two wins would give them an outside shot at breaking into the top eight, with Bologna at home to come on matchday eight.
Team News
© Imago
Leipzig are set to be without injured trio Xaver Schlager, Castello Lukeba and Andre Silva until February at the earliest, but West Ham are believed to have enquired 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 will miss the rest of the season with a serious leg injury, so new signing Ridle 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 encounter.
Potentially joining Goncalves on the sidelines are defensive trio Eduardo Quaresma, Nuno Santos and Matheus Reis, with all three also being absent from training, but Viktor Gyokeres should return to the starting XI after scoring as a late sub at the weekend, notching a sixth goal in four games.
Sporting have already entered the transfer market this month too, signing Real Betis keeper Rui Silva on loan for the rest of the season, and he has instantly taken the place of Franco Israel, on his return to Portugal after eight years in Spain.
RB Leipzig possible starting lineup:
Gulacsi; Geertruida, Orban, Klostermann; Baku, Vermeeren, Seiwald, Raum; Simons, Openda, Sesko
Sporting Lisbon possible starting lineup:
Rui Silva; Fresneda, Diomande, St Juste, Quenda; Catamo, Morita, Hjulmand; Trincao, Gyokeres, Araujo
We say: RB Leipzig 2-3 Sporting Lisbon
Entertainment is often assured when Leipzig are involved, but none of that has gone in their favour 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 make sure of their spot in the knockouts.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
