Two sides at contrasting ends of the Portuguese Primeira Liga go head to head on Wednesday when Belenenses play host to Sporting Lisbon at the Estadio Nacional do Jamor on Wednesday.
While the hosts remain rooted to the bottom of the league table, the visitors head into the game fresh off the back of picking up their second piece of silverware this season after defeating Benfica in the Taca da Liga final and will look to keep the juggernaut rolling.
Match preview
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Belenenses continue to struggle for form in the Portuguese Primeira Liga as they were held to a 1-1 draw by a dogged Maritimo side at the Estádio do Restelo.
In a fiery contest which saw both sides finish with 10 men, Safira made no mistake from 12 yards as he converted his 13th-minute penalty before Matheus Costa scored on the stroke of half time to force a share of the spoils.
Franclim Carvalho's men are now winless in each of their last three games, picking up one draw and losing two since a 2-1 victory over Arouca which saw their five-game losing streak come to an end.
With just 12 points from 19 games, Belenenses are currently rock bottom in the Primeira Liga standings, five points behind Arouca just outside the relegation places.
Having secured an impressive top-half finish last season, Belenenses' struggles this term have been owing to their lack of firepower at the attacking end of the pitch, where they have scored the fewest goals so far with just 11.
Their luck at the opposite end of the pitch has not been any better as they boast one of the division's poorest records with 33 goals conceded while managing just two clean sheets.
While Wednesday's hosts will look to end this dry spell and begin their surge from the drop zone, next up is an opposing side who are unbeaten in each of the last 12 meetings between the sides since, picking up eight wins and four draws since a 3-1 defeat back in 2017.
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Sporting Lisbon, on the other hand, continue to extend their dominance in Portuguese football as they claimed a 2-1 victory over rivals Benfica to clinch their fourth Taca da Liga title last time out.
After Everton scored in the 22nd-minute to hand As Aguias a first-half lead, the Leoes rallied in the second half as Goncalo Inacio restored parity just four minutes after the break before Pablo Sarabia netted in the 78th minute to turn the tie on its head.
Ruben Amorim's men now turn their attention to the Primeira Liga where they have stumbled in their title defence, losing twice in their three outings with a 2-0 win over Vizela on January 16 sandwiched between the two defeats.
Prior to those two defeats, they were on a blistering run of 11 straight victories since opening the season with consecutive draws against Famalicao and Porto back in their first two games.
Sporting Lisbon, who have one game in hand, have won 15, drawn two and last two of their 19 games this season to collect 47 points and sit in second place, nine points off league leaders Porto.
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Team News
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Belenenses will take to the pitch without the services of Jordan van der Gaag after the 23-year-old midfielder received his marching orders in the game against Maritimo last time out.
Fellow midfielder Nilton Varela is out of contention for Wednesday's hosts after coming off with a 32nd-minute injury in the aforementioned game.
He is joined on the club's injury table by the Portuguese duo of Chico Teixeira, who picked up and injury back in September, and Rafael Camacho, who is set to sit out his eighth consecutive game through a muscle problem.
Sporting Lisbon, on the other hand, head into Wednesday's game with a clean bill of health and no suspension concerns, giving Amorim the luxury of a full-strength squad at his disposal.
Pedro Porro returned from a nine-game injury lay-off when he came on as a 66th-minute substitute in the game against Benfica last time out and the Spanish defender will push for a starting role.
After registering one goal and an assist in the aforementioned, Sarabia has been involved in six goals in his last seven outings and the Paris Saint-Germain loanee will certainly be one to look out for.
Belenenses possible starting lineup:
Felipe; Akas, Ribeiro, Carraca, Tavares; Calila, Phete, Lukovic; Safira, Nuno, Sousa
Sporting Lisbon possible starting lineup:
Adan; Porro, Inacio, Feddal; Esgaio, Palhinha, Santos, Nunes; Goncalves, Sarabia, Paulinho
We say: Belenenses 0-3 Sporting Lisbon
Sporting Lisbon will head into the game in sky-high confidence having clinched the Taca da Liga title against rivals Benfica last time out. They are currently on a 12-game unbeaten run against Belenenses and we are backing them to extend their dominance and heap more misery on the floundering hosts.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Sporting Lisbon win with a probability of 79.85%. A draw had a probability of 13.3% and a win for Belenenses had a probability of 6.89%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sporting Lisbon win was 0-2 with a probability of 12.6%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-3 (11.26%) and 0-1 (9.4%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (6.3%), while for a Belenenses win it was 1-0 (2.35%). The actual scoreline of 1-4 was predicted with a 5.1% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Sporting Lisbon would win this match.
