The first of two encounters in the Europa League Knockout Round Play-offs, as the hometeam Sporting CP will try to edge Midtjylland in their own ballpark.
Midtjylland have a very long trip to this away game, as there's more than 2900 kilometers in distance to cover. This could prove a challenge, at least for the supporters.
Sporting CP have less rest than Midtjylland in this fixture, as the hosts were involved in a Liga Portugal game only four days ago. This match was also played here at Estádio José Alvalade. With two consecutive home games the intense schedule is somewhat softened. Still, Midtjylland have had more rest.
Sporting CP form and stats
Sporting CP was eliminated in the group stage last season in the Champions League.Sporting CP have performed here at Estádio José Alvalade this season with 8 wins from 10 Liga Portugal matches. Some points have been lost, as they have drawn 0 games and lost 2.
The Sporting CP crowd went home unhappy last time out, seeing their beloved players lose 1-2 to Porto here at Estádio José Alvalade. The defeat against Porto was especially painful as the deciding goal against was scored four minutes into stoppage time (by Pepê). Edwards, who plays in attack, was the best performer for the side in that game, earning a rating of 7.41 (out of 10). Edwards hit four key passes, dribled past the opponent 6 of 8 times and had 28 successful passes (of 34 total).
A strong away win before that one, visiting Rio Ave and winning 1-0.The home team are expected to win this game about three out of four times, according to the bookmaker odds. When checking the database for Sporting CP home games with this odds we find 18 games with a similar winning chance. Resulting in 18 wins, 0 draws and 0 defeats. Looking at the victories, 13 matches were won by at least two goals.
Sporting CP are traveling soon after this match as the Liga Portugal match at Chaves awaits in four days.
Goals are plentiful at Estádio José Alvalade in the league this season as Sporting CP has scored 27 goals here in 10 home games. Sporting CP are not conceding a lot of goals here at Estádio José Alvalade in the league, averaging less than one per game. The total is 7 from 10 matches.
Midtjylland form and stats
The traveling awayteam has defeated Sturm Graz, Lazio and Feyenoord in order to reach knockout round play-offs of Europa League. They also participated in Europa League last season. This ended in the group stage.As the visiting team in Superliga matches, Midtjylland have produced an overall stat of 3-5-0 so far. The mentioned statistics is only from the league, looking at the Europa League stats, they have 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses both home and away.
Midtjylland have been frustrated by their lack of goals lately, as they haven't scored in the league since they found the net 217 minutes ago. Dreyer was the goal scorer. Did you know that the longest clean sheet streak is 1816 minutes? This record is held by Mazaropi when he played in Vasco da Gama. Midtjylland goalkeeper Jonas Lössl is eager to challenge this, with his 180 minutes of keeping balls out from the net.
Midtjylland delivered a 1-1 draw playing at home against Elfsborg in their previous match; a Atlantic Cup fixture.
Before that one, the victory at home hosting Ulsan in the Atlantic Cup (1-0).
Midtjylland have another game away from home in just four nights, a Superliga game against Viborg. A hard diary for the visitors!
As opposed to that, Midtjylland have seen the ball go into their own net 9 times on the road. It's worth mentioning that 5 of these goals has been conceded in their last three away matches.
Head 2 Head
Top Goalscorers
  P. Pereira Gonçalves 10 goals |  M. Edwards 6 goals |  N. Gomes dos Santos 5 goals |
Sporting CP missing players
Midtjylland missing players
| Sporting CP | Midtjylland | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 13 | Played | P | 12 | 25 | ||
| 14 | 9 | Won | W | 3 | 8 | ||
| 2 | 0 | Drew | D | 6 | 10 | ||
| 9 | 4 | Lost | L | 3 | 7 | ||
| 51 | 37 | Scored | S | 18 | 36 | ||
| 26 | 11 | Conceded | C | 13 | 29 | ||
| 100% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 83% | 88% | ||
| 84% | 100% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 67% | 76% | ||
| 68% | 85% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 42% | 44% | ||
| 32% | 46% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 33% | 28% | ||
| 20% | 31% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 17% | 12% | ||
| 48% | 38% | BTTS | BTTS | 50% | 56% | ||
| 32% | 46% | Clean Sheets | C S | 42% | 32% | ||
| 20% | 15% | Failed to Score | F T | 25% | 24% | ||
| 6.3 | 5.8 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 4.5 | 5.1 | ||
| 4 | 3.7 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 5.2 | 5 | ||
| 3 | 2.6 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 2.3 | 2.1 | ||
| 5 | 4 | Red cards | R C | 2 | 2 | ||
| 14.6 | 15.5 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 10 | 12 | ||
| 5.3 | 6.2 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 4.4 | 4.5 | ||
| 38% | 46% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 34% | 32% | ||
| 9 | 7.5 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 12.6 | 11.8 | ||
| 3.4 | 2.7 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 4.9 | 4 | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Benfica | 20 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 51 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 4 | 39 | 53 |
| 2 | Porto | 20 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 47 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 30 | 5 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 17 | 7 | 35 | 48 |
| 3 | Sporting Braga | 20 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 45 | 20 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 19 | 6 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 26 | 14 | 25 | 46 |
| 4 | Sporting CP | 20 | 12 | 2 | 6 | 40 | 21 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 27 | 7 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 14 | 19 | 38 |
| 5 | Vitoria Guimaraes | 20 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 19 | 20 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 13 | -1 | 33 |
| 6 | Casa Pia | 19 | 9 | 3 | 7 | 18 | 20 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 12 | -2 | 30 |
| 7 | Arouca | 20 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 24 | 29 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 16 | 15 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 14 | -5 | 30 |
| 8 | Chaves | 20 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 19 | 24 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 15 | -5 | 26 |
| 9 | Vizela | 20 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 22 | 20 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 13 | 2 | 25 |
| 10 | Boavista | 19 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 23 | 31 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 15 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 16 | -8 | 25 |
| 11 | Portimonense | 20 | 7 | 2 | 11 | 16 | 26 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 17 | -10 | 23 |
| 12 | Estoril | 19 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 18 | 24 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 10 | -6 | 22 |
| 13 | Gil Vicente | 20 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 20 | 27 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 12 | 17 | -7 | 22 |
| 14 | Rio Ave | 19 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 18 | 24 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 16 | -6 | 21 |
| 15 | Famalicao | 20 | 6 | 3 | 11 | 18 | 28 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 19 | -10 | 21 |
| 16 | Santa Clara | 20 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 14 | 26 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 17 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 9 | -12 | 15 |
| 17 | Maritimo | 20 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 13 | 37 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 12 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 25 | -24 | 13 |
| 18 | Pacos de Ferreira | 20 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 12 | 36 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 20 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 16 | -24 | 9 |
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Nordsjælland | 17 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 29 | 13 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 5 | 16 | 35 |
| 2 | Viborg | 17 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 25 | 16 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 6 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 32 |
| 3 | København | 17 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 28 | 20 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 7 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 16 | 13 | 8 | 27 |
| 4 | Silkeborg | 17 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 27 | 25 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 14 | 2 | 24 |
| 5 | OB | 17 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 23 | 25 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 10 | -2 | 24 |
| 6 | Randers | 17 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 23 | 26 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 15 | -3 | 24 |
| 7 | Midtjylland | 17 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 24 | 22 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 13 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 16 | 9 | 2 | 23 |
| 8 | AGF | 17 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 19 | 18 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 22 |
| 9 | Horsens | 17 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 22 | 22 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 18 | 12 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 22 |
| 10 | Brøndby | 17 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 23 | 28 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 15 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 13 | -5 | 21 |
| 11 | AaB | 17 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 17 | 28 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 17 | -11 | 14 |
| 12 | Lyngby | 17 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 15 | 32 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 16 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 16 | -17 | 8 |
