Barcelona v Sporting Lisbon

We’re eyeing just the one Champions League bet tonight, and it concerns the chances of Sporting Lisbon when they travel to Barcelona. Barcelona have already won the group courtesy of their head to head results with Juventus, while a point for Sporting Lisbon could be enough to see them qualify for the next stage if the result between Olympiakos and Juventus goes their way.

Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde will definitely be without Andres Iniesta – injured against Celta Vigo last weekend, while Samuel Umtiti is also ruled out, along with Ousmane Dembele, Rafinha and Javier Mascherano. Most notably though, there looks to be every chance of Lionel Messi playing at best a cameo as Barcelona have a tricky trip to Villarreal on Sunday. Speaking ahead of the match Valverde was quoted as saying "It's clear that (Sporting boss) Jorge Jesus respects Messi a lot for what he represents and if he doesn't play it will be better for them. We'll see what happens. The most important thing is Messi is well and he wins many things with us”

The handicap lines make Barcelona a firm favourite for this match, but if they rest plenty of players, Sporting could make it more of a battle than many expect. The +2 Handicap looks the best bet, with Sporting on offer at 9/10 with Stan James in that market. Punters collect with a Sporting win, a draw, or a Barcelona win by the odd goal, and that looks fair enough to us.

1pt Sporting (+2) at 9/10 with Stan James

#Football