Sporting Lisbon v CSKA Moscow Preview

The UEFA Cup Final is being held in Lisbon this year and with Sporting Lisbon playing it has got to be a mitigating factor. Stan James make the Portuguese the Even money favourites. The draw is 9/4 and CSKA are 12/5. There is not a lot between the teams on the face of it. Both teams suffered narrow defeats over the weekend. Sporting lost the Lisbon derby to Benfica 1-0 and CSKA Moscow also lost to St Petersburg in the Russian Cup by the same margin. Sporting are strong favourites at 8/15 to lift the trophy, but the Portuguese are wary of thinking that it will be a walkover. They only have to look at The Euro 2004 Final when Greece upset the applecart and ruined the party. This CSKA Moscow side are very capable and it is by no means a walkover. The difference between the teams could be down to a few key players.The man that Sporting are looking to for inspiration, will be their Brazilian striker, Liedsen. He has scored 25 goals in 30 matches this season and the 'Tiny Diamond' is a real threat to the Russians. He is 9/2 to score first or last and is 5/4 to score at anytime. But he will not get everything his own way because the CSKA defence is renowned as being rock solid. The Russians haven't given much away in this competition (only 4 goals in 8 games) and led by captain Ignashevich their back line has been playing tight no nonsense football. It suggests that there won't be many goals tonight and Under 2 goals at 15/8 could be appealing. CSKA also have a goal scoring sensation in Silva-Vagner Love. He's their leading scorer and at 6/1 he looks good value to score first. They can be very impressive on the counter attack and they can catch teams on the break. The other likely scorer for the Russians is Daniel Caravalho at 8/1. CSKA Moscow do have to upturn history though because a Russian side has never won in Europe. But they have the backing of Roman Abramovich and they are building a team which is beginning to make waves in Europe. The only thing they lack sometimes is a little bit of flair. It might just be that little bit of something that will make the difference in this game. Sporting have flair in abundance. Portuguese football has seen a renaissance of late and it's indicative of its progress that Sporting Lisbon are now taking the stage which Benfica or Porto usually hold. Roared on by a partisan crowd, Sporting will take some beating and they seem a good bet to lift the cup. History is against CSKA and they just might feel overawed by the occasion. It could be very cagey indeed and it could be just the one goal that proves decisive. That one bit of Iberian magic. It is being covered live on ITV2 and Stan James will be betting in running right up until the 85th minute.