Preview: Sporting Lisbon vs Paris Saint-Germain - prediction, team news, lineups

After a six-week pause, Champions League football returns on Tuesday night, with Sporting Lisbon facing a tough test as they welcome current holders Paris Saint-Germain to the Estadio Jose Alvalade for the penultimate fixture of the league phase.

This marks the first meeting between the two sides in a UEFA competition and comes at a time when the Lions sit 14th in the 36-team table, two points shy of the automatic qualification places and three adrift of the Parisians, who occupy third.

Match preview

Having already faced the first part of a Champions League double whammy, Sporting enter Tuesday’s clash looking to bounce back from their matchday five 3-1 defeat to Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.

Rui Borges’s men had managed to keep the Bavarians at bay in the first half, even taking the lead in the 54th minute through Joshua Kimmich’s own goal, but a 12-minute collapse shortly after the hour mark saw them concede three goals, handing the Lisbon outfit their second defeat of the league phase campaign.

There is no better place to make up for that setback than at Jose Alvalade, having taken full spoils in all three Champions League games at the ground this season, including victories over Kairat Almaty, Marseille and Club Brugge.

Another triumph on Tuesday would see the Lions record four successive wins on their own turf in the competition for the first time ever, and they would fancy their chances, buoyed by a dominant record of seven wins in their last nine home matches against French opposition (L2).

Sporting’s 2-1 victory over Marseille on matchday three forms part of a current nine-game winning streak and an unbeaten (D1) run of 12 games at Jose Alvalade, with that dominance evident on Friday when they beat Casa Pia 3-0 in the league.

That emphatic result served as a perfect response to their recent Taca da Liga semi-final elimination, while also helping the Lions retain second position in the Primeira Liga table and temporarily close the seven-point gap to the summit to four, pending the leaders’ fixture on Sunday evening.

Also second in their domestic league, PSG are two points behind Lens in the Ligue 1 standings, despite their convincing 3-0 victory over Lille opponents at the weekend, though Luis Enrique would have been pleased with how his side responded to their Coupe de France exit at the hands of local rivals Paris FC the game prior.

That defeat remains Les Parisiens’s only loss in their last nine games, a run which includes penalty shootout victories against Flamengo and Marseille to lift the FIFA Intercontinental Cup and the French Super Cup, respectively.

The only other game PSG failed to win in regulation during that stretch was their most recent Champions League outing, with the French giants recording a goalless draw at Athletic Bilbao, despite registering eight shots on target to their hosts’ zero.

That is one of just two encounters in which Parisiens failed to win in their last nine away games in the competition (L1), so they should still be confident heading into Tuesday’s clash.

However, visits to Portuguese opposition do not hold fond memories, with just one victory recorded in the last eight such trips, while five have ended in defeats.

Sporting Lisbon Champions League form:

Sporting Lisbon form (all competitions):

Paris Saint-Germain Champions League form:

Paris Saint-Germain form (all competitions):

Team News

Sporting will remain without several key players, with Pedro Goncalves, Nuno Santos, Ousmane Diomande, Geovany Quenda and Fotis Ioannidis all ruled out through injury.

The hosts will also have to cope without the services of club captain Morten Hjulmand, who is suspended after accumulating too many yellow cards, while Maximilliano Araujo is just one booking away from a match ban.

Daniel Braganca made his second appearance since returning from a lengthy spell on the sidelines last time out and marked it with a goal, while Geny Catamo also scored a brace on his return from the Africa Cup of Nations.

For PSG, Ballon d’Or holder Dembele scored twice over the weekend and could have added a Puskas contender to his collection with an audacious chip and will enter this fixture full of confidence.

The visitors are also missing Kang-In Lee, Matvey Safonov, Joao Neves and Quentin Ndjantou through injury, while Lucas Hernandez will serve a suspension for a second consecutive Champions League outing following his dismissal on matchday five against Tottenham Hotspur.

Meanwhile, Achraf Hakimi’s Morocco lost to Ibrahim Mbaye’s Senegal in the Africa Cup of Nations final on Sunday evening, though both players’ return to the club could come too late for them to feature.

Having made 47 appearances for Sporting before initially joining Paris in 2021 and later completing a permanent transfer, left-back Nuno Mendes will be looking to make an impact against his former club.

Sporting Lisbon possible starting lineup:

Silva; Araujo, Inacio, Reis, Fresneda; Morita, Simoes; Guilherme, Trincao, Catamo; Suarez

Paris Saint-Germain possible starting lineup:

Chevalier; Mendes, Marquinhos, Pacho, Araujo; Zaire-Emery, Ruiz, Vitinha; Kvaratskhelia, Dembele, Doue

We say: Sporting Lisbon 1-2 Paris Saint-Germain

This encounter promises to be highly competitive, with a win giving Sporting a chance to climb into the top eight, while victory for PSG would bring them close to automatic progression to the knockout stage.

However, we expect the visitors to edge this contest narrowly despite recent hiccups, considering their pedigree as the defending champions.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.