It’s an early clash of giants in Liga Portugal as Sporting Lisbon and Porto face off at the Estadio Jose Alvalade. Both sides have hit the ground running this season, setting the stage for a thrilling encounter.
Sporting CP appear to have moved on from the 1-0 defeat to Benfica in the Portuguese Super Cup. They are enjoying a fine start to their title defence, winning all three of their league matches this term.
Rui Borges' team eased to a 4-1 victory at Nacional last time out, with Pedro Goncalves netting a hat-trick. Results like that have been regular lately, having outclassed Arouca 6-0 in their previous fixture.
Porto also seem to have put last season’s poor campaign behind them and are looking sharp at the early stage of the season. Francesco Farioli's team are keeping pace with the champions and have also won their opening three league matches.
Like the hosts, Porto have also looked sharp going forward and eased to a 4-0 victory over Casa Pia. One impressive aspect of their campaign so far is that they are yet to concede this season, although that resolve is likely to be tested on Saturday.
How the bookies view it: Upper hand for Sporting
Sporting CP have the upper hand among the bookies and are priced at 21/20 by BoyleSports to claim the win. A victory for Porto is valued at 11/5 while a draw is set at odds of 5/2.
Head to head: Slight edge for Porto
Porto have a 25-18 advantage with 22 draws from 65 previous matches against Sporting CP. However, the hosts were unbeaten last season, earning a 1-0 home victory in the first meeting before battling to a 1-1 away draw in the reverse fixture.
Players to watch: Goncalves the danger man.
Pedro Goncalves comes into this clash off a hat-trick in the previous outing and will be the one to watch for Sporting CP. With Luis Suarez and Trincao also in attack, the hosts could be backed to produce over 0.5 goals (Spotting CP over 0.5 goals – priced at 2/11 with BoyleSports).
The absence of Samu Agehowa shifts much of Porto’s attacking burden onto Borja Sainz. The Spaniard bagged a brace in their last outing and playing alongside William Gomes in attack, the visitors could be set to score over 0.5 goals (Porto over 0.5 goals – valued at 1/3).
Probable line-ups:
Sporting CP are likely to retain much of the players that have featured in the opening weeks, with Goncalo Inacio and Ivan Fresneda set to start in defence. Morten Hjulmand, Goncalves, Suarez and Trincao are all expected to feature.
For Porto, first-choice stopper Diogo Costa is nailed on to start between the sticks. Perez and Jan Bednarek are set to anchor the defence, while Alan Varela and Gabri Veiga hold down midfield. With Samu and Pepe sidelined, expect William Gomes and Luuk de Jong to partner Sainz in attack.
Sporting: Silva, Mangas, Ignacio, Debast, Fresneda, Morita, Hjulmand, Goncalves, Trincao, Catamo, Suarez
Porto: Costa, Costa, Perez, Bednarek, Sanusi, Froholdt, Varela, Viega, Gomes, De Jong, Sainz
Anything else catch the eye?
Sporting CP and Porto have both scored in four of their last six meetings (BTTS YES – set at odds of 4/6). The hosts have seen over 2.5 goals in their last two matches (Over 2.5 goals – offered at 3/4 with BoyleSports).
The champions have scored first in the last five matches against Porto (Sporting CP to score first – available at 8/11). Both teams have had goals in each half in their three matches this season (Goals in each half – valued at 8/11).
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