Rosenborg Vs Sporting Lisbon
Thursday 7 November 2019 – 17:55 Kick-Off
UEFA Europa League
Pick: Both Teams to Score
Odds: 3/4
Bookmaker: Bet365
UEFA Europa League Betting – 22Bet
Preview: There can be no escaping reality for Rosenborg, with the Norwegians in desperate need of three points in order to revitalise a group campaign that has never got going. Can they pick up their first point(s) when Portuguese side Sporting CP pay a visit to their Lerkendal Stadion?
Rosenborg Vs Sporting CP Live Stats & Betting Odds
Rosenborg Preview – Norwegians to finally clinch first points?
Just three games remain for Rosenborg to salvage a thus far hopeless campaign in the Europa League. The Norwegians find themselves rooted to the very bottom of Group D, some six points adrift of second place after failing to secure a single point from any of their encounters versus LASK Linz (1-0), PSV (1-4) or Sporting CP (1-0). Elimination already has an inevitable feel to it.
That is unless coach Eirik Horneland can mastermind a revival, and sharpish, preferably beginning on Thursday when Portuguese side Sporting CP travel to Trondheim. Unfortunately, there is very little to suggest this will occur. Rosenborg are currently only the fourth-best team in their own country and although domestic form has improved, losing one of the last fifteen said fixtures (W8 D6 L1), overall they have won only one of their previous seven in all competitions (W1 D3 L3).
It is easy to spot where their current issues reside. Defensively, Rosenborg are incredibly suspect and continue to leak goals. No clean sheet in six competitive matches is worrying enough but that does extend further to only two shutouts in their past twenty encounters. Their latest endeavours, meanwhile, resulted in them shipping three in a 3-3 draw away to a Stromsgodset outfit struggling at the wrong end of the Norwegian Eliteserien.
Sporting Lisbon Preview – Portuguese to secure third straight group success?
In spite of some erratic form in Portugal, Sporting CP are handily placed to progress onto the knockouts provided they maintain such form which has seen them record victories in two of their first three group encounters. Edged out in their opening fixture in Holland by section favourites PSV (3-2), the Lisbon based club would recover well by securing narrow successes over LASK Linz (2-1) and Rosenborg (1-0).
Their two victories to date were both secured at home, though, and so it remains to be seen whether they can make it three straight wins in this competition now that they are back on their travels, something which has posed one or two problems this season. In 2019/20, Sporting CP have recorded wins in just three of eight away fixtures (W3 D2 L3) and kept only one clean sheet.
Keeping it tight at the back has been this team’s downfall throughout this season in fairness, doing so on two occasions in sixteen competitive games. Yet both would come in a recent spell of resurgence, during a seven game sequence (W5 L2) which seen them record five victories to haul themselves back into contention back home and abroad. Their 1-0 league defeat away to Tondela last weekend halting a three match winning streak in all competitions.
Rosenborg V Sporting CP Key Facts:
- Rosenborg, who are pointless in this competition, are enduring a tough period at present, winning only once in their last seven matches in all competitions (W1 D3 L3).
- Sporting CP sit second in the group on six points and have seen their form improve of late, claiming five wins in their previous seven encounters (W5 L2).
- The earlier exchange between the two teams in this group finished 1-0 in Portugal in favour of the home side, Sporting CP.
Betting Summary
It genuinely is now or never territory for Rosenborg, who are already six points off the top two in this group following defeats in all three fixtures thus far. Only one of those losses was in a convincing manner, though, one of which being their 1-0 loss in Portugal versus the same opposition. That slender margin suggests the Norwegians are capable of turning things around back on home soil.
Two wins from their three group games means Sporting CP are prominent in this group, sat two points clear in second and only a point shy of the leaders. Victory here would be another huge stride towards progression, though their away form has been inconsistent (W3 D2 L3 in all comps) and includes a weekend defeat domestically against mid-table Tondela.
These teams share a common theme: unreliable, leaky defences. Rosenborg have kept two clean sheets in their previous 20 games in all competitions while Sporting have as many only in slightly fewer fixtures (16). Therefore there is every likelihood of both rearguards being breached, despite the pair contesting a low-scoring affair in Portugal earlier in the campaign (1-0 to Sporting).
