Sporting Lisbon vs Aberdeen prediction, preview, team news and more | Europa League 2020-21
The third round of qualifiers for the Europa League will take place on Thursday and will see Sporting Lisbon host Aberdeen at the Estadio Jose Alvalade.
This will represent Sporting's first competitive fixture of the season, while Aberdeen have already been in the thick of things, having completed six rounds of matches in the Scottish Premier League.
The Dons were soundly defeated 3-0 by Motherwell in their last fixture on Sunday, which was rather disappointing, considering how well they had started the season.
Aberdeen beat Norwegian side Viking 2-0 to progress to this stage of the competition, while Sporting Lisbon are here by virtue of their higher ranking.
Sporting Lisbon vs Aberdeen Head-to-Head
This will be the first meeting between the two sides in European competition.
Sporting Lisbon form guide: N/A
Aberdeen form guide (all competitions): W-W-W-W-L
Sporting Lisbon vs Aberdeen Team News
Sporting Lisbon
There are no known injury or suspension concerns for Sporting Lisbon manager Ruben Amorim ahead of their clash with Aberdeen.
Injuries: None
Suspensions: None
Aberdeen
Coach Derrick McInnes has several injury concerns to worry about and he will be without the services of Michael Devlin (hamstring), Sam Cosgrove (knee), Ryan Edmondson (ankle), Curtis Main (knee), and Matt Kennedy (knee).
However, Aberdeen have no suspension concerns ahead of the trip to Portugal.
Injuries: Michael Devlin, Sam Cosgrove, Curtis Main, Matt Kennedy, Ryan Edmondson
Suspensions: None
Sporting Lisbon vs Aberdeen Predicted XI
Sporting Lisbon Predicted XI (4-3-3): Renan Ribeiro; Cristian Borja, Sebastian Coates, Zouhair Feddal, Bruno Gaspar; Idrissa Doumbia, Wendel, Miguel Luis; Mattheus, Luciano Vietto, Nuno Santos
Aberdeen Predicted XI (3-4-1-2): Joe Lewis; Andrew Considine, Ash Taylor, Ross McCrorie; Jonny Hayes, Lewis Ferguson, Funso Ojo, Niall McGinn; Scott Wright; Ryan Hedges, Marley Watkins
Sporting Lisbon vs Aberdeen Prediction
Aberdeen started this season impressively and their 3-0 loss to Motherwell ended a run of six consecutive wins in all competitions.
They will be facing a Sporting Lisbon side that have lost two of their key players in Marcos Acuna and Matheus Pereira, sold to Sevilla and West Brom respectively, although they replaced them adequately.
Sporting Lisbon will fancy their chances of getting into the playoff rounds and, although Aberdeen deserve praise for coming this far, the Portuguese side will likely be a bridge too far for the Scottish side.
Prediction: Sporting Lisbon 2-0 Aberdeen