Sports Mole previews Saturday's Primeira Liga clash between Sporting Lisbon and Porto, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Sporting Lisbon and Porto will be looking to maintain their 100% record in the new Primeira Liga campaign when they lock horns at the Estadio Jose Alvalade on Saturday.
This will be the second encounter between the two teams within the space of five weeks, with the Leoes claiming a dramatic 4-3 victory to clinch the Supertaca Candido de Oliveira title when they met on August 3.
Match preview
© Reuters
Sporting Lisbon turned in another performance of the highest quality last Friday when they ran out 5-0 winners against Farense at the Estadio de Sao Luis as they maintained their resounding start to their Primeira Liga defence.
Victor Gyokeres grabbed the headlines once again as he hit three goals to put the visitors in a commanding lead before Lucas Africo netted an own goal and Marcus Edwards put the icing on the cake with an 81st-minute strike.
Prior to that, Sporting Lisbon kicked off the new league campaign with a 3-1 home victory over Rio Ave on August 9, one week before steamrolling newly-promoted Nacional 6-1 at the Estadio da Madeira.
With last weekend's victory, Ruben Amorim's men have now gone 24 straight matches unbeaten in the Primeira Liga, picking up an impressive 22 wins and two draws since a 3-2 defeat against Vitoria de Guimaraes at the Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques on December 9.
Next up for Sporting Lisbon is the challenge of taking on a Porto side who have won their most recent two encounters, securing a 2-1 extra-time victory to clinch the Taca de Portugal title on May 26, before their 4-3 Supertaca Candido de Oliveira triumph on August 3.
© Imago
Porto, meanwhile, made it three wins from three in the league last Saturday as they picked up a 2-0 victory over 10-man Rio Ave when the two sides squared off at the Estadio do Dragao.
In a game where Patrick William received his marching orders, Wanderson Galeno struck inside the opening 60 seconds to hand the hosts a dream start before Nico Gonzalez doubled their advantage on the half-hour mark.
Before that, Vitor Bruno's men clinched a record-extending 24th Portuguese Super Cup title on August 3 before picking up back-to-back victories over Gil Vicente and Santa Clara in their first two Primeira Liga matches.
Porto head into the weekend on a run of 15 straight victories across all competitions, scoring 48 goals and keeping 10 clean sheets, and are unbeaten in their last 19 matches since a 2-1 loss at the hands of Guimaraes on April 7.
While the Dragoes will be looking to extend this impressive streak, they will need to be at their best at the Estadio Jose Alvalade, where Sporting Lisbon finished with a 100% record in the league last season and are on a run of 18 straight league wins, stretching back to a 2-2 stalemate with Benfica in May 2023.
Sporting Lisbon Primeira Liga form:
- W
- W
- W
Sporting Lisbon form (all competitions):
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
- W
Porto Primeira Liga form:
- W
- W
- W
Porto form (all competitions):
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Sporting Lisbon will take to the pitch without the services of Jerry St. Juste and Danish midfielder Morten Hjulmand, who are currently ruled out through muscle and ankle injuries respectively.
Portuguese goalkeeper Diogo Pinto is currently recuperating from an ankle injury and the 20-year-old is also out of contention for Saturday's showdown.
Gyokeres has picked up from where he left off last season, with the 2023-24 Golden Boot winner already registering seven goal involvements in the first three league games.
We expect the 26-year-old to spearhead Sporting Lisbon's attack once again, alongside Fransisco Trincao and Pedro Goncalves, while Goncalo Inacio, Ousmane Diomande and Eduardo Quaresma should form the back three once again.
As for the visitors, Bruno will be unable to call upon the defensive duo of Ivan Marcano and Nigerian full-back Zaidu Sanusi, who have been ruled out through knee injuries.
Fabio Vieira recently completed a return to Porto, joining on a season-long loan from Premier League side Arsenal, but the 24-year-old midfielder is not expected to feature this weekend.
The Dragoes have kept three clean sheets in their opening three matches and we should see an unchanged back three of Martim Fernandes, Ze Pedro and Otavio shielding Diogo Costa between the sticks.
Sporting Lisbon possible starting lineup:
Kovacevic; Quaresma, Diomande, Inacio; Quenda, Braganca, Morita, Catamo; Trincao, Goncalves, Gyokeres
Porto possible starting lineup:
Costa; Fernandes, Pedro, Otavio; Gonzalez, Varela, Pepe, Galeno, Jaime; Borges, Namaso
We say: Sporting Lisbon 3-2 Porto
The last five meetings between the two teams have seen a combined 19 goals scored and we anticipate another action-packed contest this weekend. While both sides have flown out of the blocks this season, Sporting Lisbon's home advantage gives them a slight edge here and we fancy them to come away with the desired result.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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