Sporting Lisbon will look to return to winning ways to strengthen their position at the top of the Primeira Liga table on Sunday, when they travel to take on Braga.
After a poor run of form, the hosts picked up an important 2-1 victory over Boavista last time out, while the league leaders drew 2-2 with Belenenses in dramatic fashion.
Match preview
© Reuters
Braga returned to winning ways last time out, as they picked up a narrow victory at home to strugglers Boavista.
Sebastian Perez opened the scoring for the visitors, but Fransergio equalised on the stroke of half time for Os Arcebispos, before Andraz Sporar netted the winning goal to seal all three points for Carlos Carvalhal''s side.
Before that, the Archbishops picked up just one win from five league games, slipping away from the Primeira Liga's top three as a result.
Carvalhal's men now sit in fourth spot in the Portuguese top flight, with a two-point gap between themselves and Benfica in third place.
As a result, Braga still stand a strong chance of finishing in the top three, and will be desperate to put a winning run together to boost those chances.
They face a tough test on Saturday though, as they take on a Sporting Lisbon side who are yet to lose in league action this season.
© Reuters
Despite their lofty position, the Lisbon outfit are currently going through their toughest patch of the season, having drawn three of their last four games.
As a result, their lead at the top of the table has been cut from 10 points to four points with six games left to play.
Ruben Amorim's men were somewhat lucky to escape their recent home game against Belenenses with a draw, after the visitors took a two-goal lead thanks to a Mateo Cassierra brace.
Sporting captain Sebastian Coates pulled a goal back for his side in the 83rd minute, before the league leaders won a penalty in the sixth minute of added time at the end of the game, which substitute Jovane Cabral converted to salvage a point for his side and maintain their unbeaten record.
While they did enjoy a late comeback, Amorim's men dropped points for the third time in their last four games, and now sit just four points ahead of Porto, who remain in hot pursuit of the top spot.
They will be desperate to get back to winning ways on Sunday and put that shaky run behind them, as they look to fend off Porto and seal their first Primeira Liga title since 2002.
- D
- L
- W
- D
- D
- W
- W
- W
- D
- D
- W
- D
Team News
© Reuters
Braga will be without several players through injury, as winger Iuri Medeiros and defenders Francisco Moura and David Carmo all continue spells on the sidelines.
Meanwhile, midfielder Ali Musrati could also miss out on Sunday's clash, after he was absent from the squad last time out.
Forward Andraz Sporar will be ineligible for this game against his parent club, after he netted the third goal of his loan move off the bench last time out.
That adds to Carvalhal's issues in attack, as the likes of Abel Ruiz, Nicolas Gaitan and Lucas Piazon have all somewhat struggled for form by their usual standards in recent weeks.
He could look to move back to a system of three centre-backs to match Sporting's threatening attack, with Rolando potentially coming back into the side to offer more defensive stability.
Sporting Lisbon are expected to remain without centre-back Zouhair Feddal, who has missed the last two matches through injury.
In his absence, Matheus Reis has stepped into the back three alongside Goncalo Inacio and captain Sebastian Coates, although the defence looked noticeably shaky in the recent draw with Belenenses.
At the other end of the pitch, Paulinho will lead the line for Amorim's men against his former club, having moved to the capital from Os Arcebispos in January.
He will be supported by the attacking threat of Pedro Goncalves, who has registered 17 goals and four assists in 26 games in the Portuguese top flight this season.
Braga possible starting lineup:
Matheus; Tormena, Rolando, Silva; Esgaio, Fransergio, Gaitan, Sequeira; Horta, Ruiz, Galeno
Sporting Lisbon possible starting lineup:
Adan; Inacio, Coates, Reis; Porro, Mario, Palhinha, Mendes; Tomas, Paulinho, Goncalves
We say: Braga 1-1 Sporting Lisbon
Both sides come into this game in their largest patches of inconsistency of the campaign, and we see them sharing the points on Sunday.
While Braga got back to winning ways last time out, their opponents are yet to lose in league action this season, but Sporting have also experienced somewhat of a dip in form by their own standards recently.
Top tip
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 42.34%. A win for Braga had a probability of 31.88% and a draw had a probability of 25.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sporting Lisbon win was 0-1 with a probability of 10.01%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.88%) and 0-2 (7.26%). The likeliest Braga win was 1-0 (8.45%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.24%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 10% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 0-1 win for Sporting Lisbon in this match.
