Last season's Europa League quarter-finalists Sporting Lisbon start this year's campaign with a trip to Austria to face Sturm Graz on Thursday.

Sporting got the better of Arsenal in the knockouts on their way to the quarters, before eventually coming up short to Juventus.

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Sporting will make their European bow for the season here after disappointingly finishing down in fourth in the Primeira Liga, missing out on the Champions League entirely.

Braga took the final spot ahead of them and progressed through to the group stage, with Sporting being left with a Europa League place instead.

Ruben Amorim's side have quickly put last season's disappointments behind them, though, by making a fantastic start.

Sporting remain level on points with Porto and surprise early pace-setters Boavista at the top of the league, after a win over Moreirense on Sunday.

A kind run of fixtures to come domestically may allow Amorim to place quite heavy importance on them getting the job done in their European group.

With Rio Ave, Farense and Arouca all up next in their upcoming league games, all in and around their first three Europa League matches, Amorim may still go strong with his team selection.

A run to the quarter-finals last season is as far as the Lions have got in over a decade, as round-of-32 eliminations became all too familiar.

In reality, Sporting have never really looked like contenders since being beaten finalists in the 2005 UEFA Cup final to CSKA Moscow.

Despite the quality of teams in this season's Europa League, Amorim will be hopeful his side can compete, especially after beating Arsenal last season.

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Sturm will not make it easy for Sporting though, as they have made a fantastic start to the season domestically.

Had it not been for David Schnegg's red card early on at home to Austria Klagenfurt, Sturm could be top of the Bundesliga currently.

That dismissal contributed to them being held to a 0-0 draw, and they currently sit two points behind the usual dominant force of Red Bull Salzburg after seven games.

Despite five wins already though, two of which came against LASK Linz and Austria Vienna, it was their 2-2 draw with Salzburg at the weekend which has been the most impressive so far.

Salzburg have been competitive at the top of European football for many years, so if Sturm can match up with Sporting as well as they did at the weekend then they do have a chance to potentially sneak through this tough-looking group.

The one big concern is that Christian Ilzer's men were thrashed 7-2 by PSV Eindhoven in their Champions League playoff last month, and those two legs will throw huge doubt over whether they can replicate their domestic form on the continent.

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Sturm's new signing Seedy Jatta remains out after arriving from Valerenga late in the window, but Dimitri Lavalee could make his debut for this club in this one.

After a strong performance against Salzburg, Ilzer is likely to keep much, if not all, of the same lineup here.

Amorim may recall Paulinho to his Sporting side after surprisingly leaving him out of the Moreirense win.

Viktor Gyokeres has been in fine form too, but Paulinho has scored four goals in just 256 minutes of action this season.

Promising right-back Ivan Fresneda could be given his full debut after signing from Real Valladolid, while Daniel Braganca and Francisco Trincao will both be pushing for a rare start.

Most of Sporting's play will go through Pedro Goncalves, who scored three goals in six games in this competition last season, including his astonishing halfway-line strike at the Emirates.

Sturm Graz possible starting lineup:
Scherpen; Gazibegovic, Wuthrich, Gorenc-Stankovic, Schnegg; Affengruber, Prass, Kiteishvili; Sarkaria, Wlodarczyk, Fuseini

Sporting Lisbon possible starting lineup:
Adan; Diomande, Coates, Goncalo Inacio; Ivan Fresneda, Morita, Pedro Goncalves, Nuno Santos; Edwards, Gyokeres, Trincao

We say: Sturm Graz 1-3 Sporting Lisbon

Sturm have got into the habit of winning, while their draw with Salzburg will have felt like a win given the level of opposition.

However, Ilzer's side may be overpowered by the quality in the Sporting side, with the visitors arriving in excellent form.


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