Europa League
2012-04-05 - Metalist Kharkiv vs Sporting Lisbon
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: European Europa League, Quarter Final Second Leg
Thursday 5 April 2012 - Kick Off 8:05pm
Sporting Lisbon lead 2-1 from the First Leg
Metalist Kharkiv
I thought Metalist Kharkiv had an excellent shout of avoiding defeat last week in their visit to Lisbon, but after 90 minutes it looked like the side were in a big hole in this Quarter Final as they trailed 2-0. However, they earned a huge consolation from Cleiton Xavier in that game earned them an away goal and gives them renewed confidence that they can overturn that defeat at home.
They look almost certain to be playing in this competition again next season as they sit 3rd in the Ukrainian domestic League, but are already too far behind the top 2 teams that will go into the Champions League. Metalist are 8-3-2 in the Europa League this season, going 3-2-1 at home.
The team have failed to win any of their last 3 games in all competitions, although they had been on a 6-1-1 record before these latest games. Metalist have won just 1 of their last 3 home games in all competitions after winning 5 in a row before that. They lost 0-1 here in the last Round of the Europa League against Olympiakos, but they had won their previous 3 at home, scoring at least 3 goals in each of those wins.
Sporting Lisbon
Ricardo Sa Pinto still has full belief in his side to complete the task in hand and move through to the Semi Final of the competition, although he was upset that they did not keep a clean sheet in the first leg of the tie.
Sporting Lisbon are almost certain to be playing in this competition again next season as they sit in 5th in the Portuguese Liga, 11 points behind Sporting Braga in the final Champions League spot and 8 points clear of 6th placed Vitoria Guimaraes. They have an 8-2-3 record in the Europa League, but have struggled on their travels to a 1-2-3 record.
The team have won 8 of their last 11 games in all competitions, the other 3 all ending in defeats. Sporting won their last away game over the weekend at Uniao de Leiria, but they had lost 4 of their previous 5 games in all competitions and they conceded at least 2 goals in 4 of those games. Sporting have conceded at least 2 goals in each of their last 3 away games in the Europa League, although they have scored 2 in their last 2 at Legia Warsaw and Manchester City.
Head to Head
This will be the first competitive game between the teams in the Ukraine.
Metalist have never entertained a team from Portugal before in a competitive game, while Sporting Lisbon have won on both of their trips to the Ukraine.
Prediction
This, like the Hannover-Atletico Madrid game, has the potential to really open up as a contest as long as the first goal comes early enough in the contest.
The 2-1 scoreline from the first leg is dangerous for Sporting Lisbon as one goal for the home team will put them in danger of being knocked out of the competition. Metalist didn't score against Olympiakos in the last Round, but they had scored at least 3 goals in their previous 3 games at home in the Europa League.
Sporting themselves will not be afraid of getting their away goal here as they scored twice in their last 2 away games in the Europa League, and I don't think they will sit back against a Metalist team that has led the scoring charts.
As I said in my preview for the Hannover-Atletico game, an early game could see the goals begin to flow in this contest as it doesn't matter which team gets it. It will force the other to come out and attack that much more and spaces could be exploited late for the Overs to come in.
The Pick :
Metalist Kharkiv 3-2 Sporting Lisbon
