The poster match of gameweek 14 in the Primeira Liga will unfold on Monday under the lights when Sporting Lisbon face off against Porto at Estadio Jose Alvalade.
The battle at the top of the Primeira Liga is red-hot heading into the busy festive period, and these two lead the way, currently level on 31 points apiece after the first 13 matches.
Match preview
© Reuters
Sporting Lisbon ended the Europa League group stages on a positive note in midweek when they beat Sturm Graz 3-0 at this venue and secured their spot in the knockout stages behind Atalanta.
However, that result followed a costly 3-2 loss to Vitoria Guimaraes, which saw their lead atop the league erased, while Benfica and Braga also pulled within one win of overtaking them.
Goncalo Inacio opened the scoring in that match, and Nuno Santos pulled Sporting level after their opponents took a 2-1 lead, but Dani Silva came off the bench to slot home the winner 10 minutes before the final whistle.
Ruben Amorim's side have already relinquished the lead in the top flight once this season when they lost 2-1 to Benfica in a dramatic match ahead of the November international break.
While the Lions will know that they are in for a fight in this one, they will draw confidence from their home record this season of seven consecutive wins while managing to score two or more goals in all but one of those matches.
© Reuters
Meanwhile, Porto will come into this match following an incredible 5-3 win over Shakhtar Donetsk in midweek, which saw them clinch a place in the last 16 of the Champions League, finishing second in Group H behind Barcelona.
The Dragons are the only of the three Primeira Liga sides to make it through the group stages of the Champions League, with Benfica and Braga both heading for the Europa League competition in the New Year.
Sergio Conceicao's side claimed a 3-1 win over Casa Pia in league action last weekend, extending their recent run to three consecutive wins following victories over Famalicao and Vitoria Guimaraes either side of the international break.
Porto have been good on the road so far this season, taking 18 of a possible 21 points and on a three-match winning run since their sole away loss to Benfica back in September.
Despite Sporting showing up as the favourite according to the bookmakers, Porto won the last encounter at this venue 2-1 last season and are unbeaten against Sporting in their last 13 league meetings dating back to August 2016.
Team News
© Reuters
Amorim had the luxury of resting one or two of his players in midweek, and we should see Ousmane Diomande come back into the starting 11 for this match.
Geny Catamo (muscle), Jerry St Juste (muscle), Ivan Fresneda (shoulder) and Daniel Braganca (thigh) are all ruled out until the New Year due to injury.
Ivan Jaime was an injury doubt ahead of Porto's Champions League clash against Shakhtar, but the midfielder managed to make the squad and could return to the starting 11 in this one.
Should Jaime play from the start, that would likely see Wenderson Galeno drop to the bench, with Pepe expected to operate down the right flank.
Gabriel Veron (Achilles), Ivan Marcano (ACL), Wendell (muscle) and Samuel Portugal (groin) make up the casualty list and will not feature in this match.
Sporting Lisbon possible starting lineup:
Adan; Esgaio, Diomande, Inacio; Matheus, Morita, Hjulmand, Paulinho; Pote, Gyokeres, Edwards
Porto possible starting lineup:
Costa; Sanchez, Pedro, Pepe, Mendes; Jaime, Varela, Eustaquio, Pepe; Taremi, Evanilson
We say: Sporting Lisbon 2-2 Porto
While Porto have been the dominant side in this fixture over several seasons, Sporting's home form this term cannot be overlooked. With the quality of attack on display here, this match has the potential to be an absolute goal fest, but we feel these two will end up sharing the spoils at the final whistle.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
