Sporting gained the upper hand of the tie as Matias Fernandez’s last gasp effort earned them a 1:1 draw at Ibrox Park, although the Lions will have to work hard for the place in the last 16 stage.

Paulo Sergio’s side have had a lot of problems lately, and they are winless in last five games in all competitions, so there is no doubt the Lions will be looking to finally end the dismal run.

Coach Paulo Sergio is under big pressure following the poor run of results, but the players have stood by him and they want to win the game for their boss.

Evaldo returns from a domestic ban, but Daniel Carrico misses out through suspension. Marat Izmailov and Jaime Valdes remain sidelined.

Rangers couldn’t hold on to the lead at Ibrox and they now face an uphill task in Portugal, with the players very low on spirits after the heavy defeat in the Old Firm derby.

The 3:0 defeat to Celtic was not only a bitter blow to Gers’ title aspirations but also had a very negative effect on the players’ confidence, and that could be a problem going into the Sporting game.

The news on the injury front are hardly promising as well, with captain David Weir very doubtful after picking up a stomach bug.

Lee McCulloch, Kirk Broadfoot, Steve Naismith, Jamie Ness and Kyle Hutton are all out with injuries, while Nikica Jelavic is ineligible.

All things considered, Sporting look like the favourites to win this game and odds of 1.67 (2/3) offered by Bodog certainly look tempting.