Sporting v Borussia Dortmund: Back Swedish star to shine | OneFootball

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Sporting's Viktor Gyokeres is a goal machine

After picking up a winner in Portugal, Kevin Hatchard is looking for another one in the Champions League, as Sporting take on Borussia Dortmund.

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Sporting v Borussia DortmundTuesday 11 February, 20:00Live on Discovery+

They put us through the wringer, but Rio Ave scored a 96th-minute leveller last night to show we were right to lay odds-on favourites Arouca. The Primeira Liga clash ended 1-1, and we had a winning start to the week.

We'll stay in Portugal, because Sporting face Borussia Dortmund in the first leg of their Champions League playoff, and both teams have had to deal with turmoil this term.

Sporting saw their season upended by Manchester United's poaching of their manager Ruben Amorim. At that stage, Sporting were well clear at the top of the league and were doing well in the Champions League, and the Lions had anticipated keeping their highly-rated boss until the summer. Amorim reportedly wanted to see out the campaign in the Portuguese capital too, but it appears United told him it was now or never, and he departed the Jose Alvalade.

Sporting then promoted B-team boss Joao Pereira, but he only lasted a few weeks before the champions turned to Vitoria Guimaraes boss Rui Borges. At the weekend, Sporting were moments away from a precious win at title rivals Porto, but the hosts equalised late on, as Sporting had two men sent off in the dying embers of the game.

Overall, Sporting are four points ahead of Benfica in the title race, and star striker Viktor Gyokeres continues to impress. The Swedish international has scored a mind-boggling 31 goals in 29 games this term, and he has fired in five goals across his last five appearances.

Borussia Dortmund are paying the price for the failed experiment that was Nuri Sahin's tenure as coach, and a club that made the UCL final last term might not even qualify for next season's competition. The former BVB midfielder was too inexperienced to get such a big role, and simply couldn't get an underperforming, fragile squad to play his football effectively. Sahin's replacement Niko Kovac is more experienced, but he started his spell in charge with Saturday's 2-1 home defeat against Stuttgart.

Dortmund defender Waldemar Anton had a nightmare against his former club. He gifted VfB striker Deniz Undav a glorious first-half chance with a woefully under-hit backpass, and in the second half he scored an own goal to give Stuttgart the lead. That kind of error has been happening across the squad all season, and this is a group that lacks confidence.

Sporting have lost midfielder Morten Hjulmand to suspension and are without the injured Pote and Nuno Santos, but I can't resist backing Gyokeres to score at 2.2 on the Exchange. Dortmund have leaked 29 goals across their last 13 away games in all competitions, and they are simply too easy to play against. Kovac just hasn't had enough training time to sharpen them up.

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