Give Lisbon a Sporting Chance

Wednesday night offers football punters a welcome break from what appears to be a never ending diet of play-off fixtures at present with the UEFA Cup Final between Sporting Lisbon and CSKA Moscow. The match can be seen live on ITV2.Sporting Lisbon hope to follow in the footsteps of Feyenoord, Madrid, Inter Milan and Barcelona. Victory for the Lisbon side at the Estádio José Alvalade would make them the fifth team in European club competition history to win a final on home soil.In the way of the Portuguese club are CSKA Moscow who after the disappointment of losing out in the group stages of the Champions League have done very well to progress so far in Europe's second competition.Away from home in the Champions League and UEFA Cup, only one match has been won. That said CSKA have only lost a couple of times and drawn six times, including what was at the time a valuable point against Sporting Lisbon's rivals Porto.As difficult as the Russians have been to beat on their travels, Sporting have been virtually unbeatable in front of their own fans in European competition, winning six out of seven home games on route to the final.Based on the above information, it is somewhat surprising to see several firms offering even money on Lisbon to prevail within ninety minutes. Sporting are incidentally as short as 1/2 to win the UEFA Cup outright.It is worth noting that in a season that promised so much for CSKA, there is a danger the club could finish with nothing. They missed out on the Russian League on the final day of the season despite leading the way with two games remaining.It is advised to take the even money now, as it is unlikely to be available at kick-off.