Tottenham v Sporting predictions: Portuguese hopefuls can put up a fight

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Tottenham v Sporting Lisbon in the Uefa Champions League on Wednesday

Where to watch

BT Sport 3, 8pm Wednesday

Best bet

Sporting +1 on Asian handicap
2pts 11-10 bet365

Team news

Tottenham
Dejan Kulusevski and Richarlison are both ruled out while Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Cristian Romero face late fitness tests.

Sporting
Pedro Goncalves and Ricardo Esgaio are banned after red cards against Marseille, but Antonio Adan should return in goal after serving a suspension. Sebastian Coates misses out.

Match preview

There is a degree of satisfaction that Tottenham are third in the Premier League, but successive defeats to Manchester United and Newcastle have cast doubts on their ability to beat decent opposition, and they face a big test against Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League.

Antonio Conte was forced to shuffle his pack before Sunday's 2-1 loss to Newcastle and injuries to Dejan Kulusevski and Richarlison have proved troublesome, particularly as Heung-Min Son has shone only when firing a hat-trick as a substitute against Leicester.

Conte has a midfield packed of similar players - Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's absence against Newcastle was telling - and creativity levels have suffered lately, even though they did play with greater zest in their last Champions League outing, a 3-2 win over Eintracht Frankfurt.

However, they never seem far away from a defensive calamity as demonstrated when conceding Callum Wilson's comical opener on Sunday, so when that is always nagging in the mind, enthusiasm is tempered, particularly when they are not showing much up top.

Ten points is often seen as the benchmark for qualification from a Champions League group and Spurs would reach that with victory on Wednesday, but their Portuguese visitors should not be ruled out.

The Lisbon outfit were 3-0 victors in Frankfurt on the opening matchday and while their progress has been checked by successive defeats to Marseille, both of those came via disciplinary indiscretions.

They had their goalkeeper Antonio Adan sent off after just 23 minutes of a 4-1 defeat in France and both Pedro Goncalves and Ricardo Esgaio were dismissed when they lost 2-0 at home to Marseille last time out.

Perhaps more telling is the fine performance they put up in beating Tottenham 2-0 when they met in Lisbon last month.

Both goals arrived in injury-time but Conte could have no complaints about the result. A point would have been more than Spurs deserved from a match where their former forward Marcus Edwards, who was tipped for great things before losing his way under Mauricio Pochettino, was the star of the show.

Sporting's desire for points is just as great in a group which is one of the tightest in the competition.

They have the ability to make life uncomfortable for Spurs, so backing the visitors on the Asian handicap market may be the way to go.

They have been given a one-goal start by bet365 meaning the bet will succeed if Sporting win or draw in London with backers receiving their money back should Spurs oblige by a single goal.