FC Sheriff vs. Sporting Braga 2/17/22 UEFA Europa League Soccer Picks, Predictions, Odds

FC Sheriff and Sporting Braga face off on Thursday in Leg 1 of their Group of 16 showdown at Bolshaya Sportivnaya Arena. This is the first meeting ever between the two teams. 

FC Sheriff finished in third place in Group D of the Champions League picking up seven points. Sheriff had two wins, one draw, and three losses. Sheriff’s last game in the Champions League came against Shakhtar Donetsk and they were able to play a 1-1 draw. Sheriff only had 31 percent of the possession but they were able to score a goal in the 31st minute to secure the draw. One big issue for this team is they have had a long layoff. Sheriff’s last game came back on December 11th against Zimbru. 

On the other side of this matchup is Sporting Braga and they finished in second place in Group F of the Europa League. Braga finished with three wins, one loss, and two draws, which allowed them to pick up 10 points. Coming into this game, SC Braga has won three of their last four games, including the last game Pacos Ferreira the offense was able to score two goals and that was enough to win by a point. SC Braga has scored 39 goals while their defense has given up 23 goals total in the Primera Liga. Ricardo Horta has been the top player for Sporting Braga this season scoring 13 goals and adding three assists. Iuri Medeiros has also been good this year scoring five goals and six assists. In this game, SC Braga needs to get the offense out to a fast start and try to attack a team that hasn’t played a while. 

I am very concerned about the layoff for FC Sheriff and this is almost going to be like playing a preseason game for them. SC Braga has a strong offense and they are going to run up the score in this game. Look for SC Braga to score at least two goals, and they will win this game on the money line.