Fresh off the back of a Champions League defeat against Ajax, Sporting Lisbon play hosts to Boavista in round 14 of the Primeira Liga on Saturday.
The visitors head into the game without a win in any of their last eight games across all competitions and will be seeking to arrest this dry spell.
Match preview
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Sporting Lisbon's blistering run of results came to an end last Tuesday when they fell to a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Eredivisie champions Ajax in Group C of the Champions League.
In a riveting contest at the Johan Cruijff Arena, Sebastien Haller and Antony netted either side of Nuno Santos's 22nd-minute leveller to hand Ajax a first-half lead, and after David Neres and Steven Berghuis scored to make sure of the result, Bruno Tabata opened his account for the season to half the deficit in the 78th minute.
Ruben Amorim's men now return home where they claimed an emphatic 3-1 win over title-chasing Benfica at the Estadio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, where Pablo Sarabia, Paulinho and Matheus Nunes scored to put the visitors in a commanding position before Pizzi pulled one back in the sixth minute of injury time.
Sporting Lisbon head into Saturday's game on a run of eight consecutive league victories, scoring 13 goals and keeping six clean sheets, while they are one of just two sides yet to taste defeat in the competition to date.
With 35 points from 13 games, the reigning champions are currently second in the Primeira Liga table, level on points with Porto, who are ahead courtesy of their superior goal difference.
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Meanwhile, Boavista failed to find their feet last time one out as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Maritimo at the Estadio do Bessa XXI.
After taking the lead inside the opening five minutes through Petar Musa, Petit's men failed to close out the game as substitute Henrique came up trumps for the visitors as he netted in the 95th minute to force a share of the spoils.
Boavista have failed to taste victory in any of their most recent eight games in all competitions, picking up four draws and losing four since a 2-1 win over Pacos de Ferreira in Group C of the Taca de Liga back in September.
This poor run of results has seen Os Axadrezados drop to 11th place on the log, level on points with Tondela, after amassing 12 points from 13 outings and this has been owing to their struggles in defence, where they have shipped 23 goals to date.
While Boavista will be seeking to arrest their poor form, they face the stern test of going up against a rampant Sporting side who they have failed to defeat in each of the last 15 meetings between the teams, losing 13 and managing just two draws.
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Team News
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Sporting Lisbon will take to the pitch without the services of the Portuguese duo of Ruben Vinagre and Joao Palhinha, who have both been ruled out through ankle and muscle injuries respectively.
Jovane Cabral is set to miss his fifth consecutive game after picking up a knee problem in November's cup tie against Varzim, while Sebastian Coates remains ruled out through COVID-19.
Moroccan defender Zouhair Feddal will also play no part for the reigning champions after coming off with an injury against Benfica which saw him miss the game against Ajax.
Boavista, on the other hand, remain without the services of 22-year-old midfielder Miguel Reisinho, who sustained a knee injury in the game versus Pacos de Ferreira on August 16.
Fellow midfielder Gaius Makouta is also out of contention as he serves his one-game suspension after receiving his marching orders in the draw with Maritimo last time out.
Sporting Lisbon possible starting lineup:
Adan; Inacio, Neto, Reis; Porro, Braganca, Ugarte, Esgaio; Goncalves, Tabata; Paulinho
Boavista possible starting lineup:
Beiranvand; Cannon, Santos, Abascal, Hamache; Perez, Sauer; Morais, Njie, Gorre; Musa
We say: Sporting Lisbon 3-0 Boavista
Sporting saw their 12-game winning streak come to an end last time out and will be seeking to immediately bounce back to winning ways. They take on a floundering Boavista side who are without a win in their last eight games and we are tipping them to come away with all three points unscathed.
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 80.86%. A draw had a probability of 13.3% and a win for Boavista had a probability of 5.85%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sporting Lisbon win was 2-0 with a probability of 14.65%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 3-0 (12.51%) and 1-0 (11.44%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (6.26%), while for a Boavista win it was 0-1 (2.45%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 14.7% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 2-0 win for Sporting Lisbon in this match and our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted the win for Sporting Lisbon.
