The round of 16 in the Taca de Portugal will get underway this week, with Sporting Lisbon taking on Santa Clara at Estadio Jose Alvalade on Wednesday night.
Sporting were beaten in extra-time in the final of this competition by Porto last season, while Santa Clara also bowed out to Os Dragoes in the quarter-final.
Match preview
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Sporting Lisbon experienced a significant dip in form since the departure of Ruben Amorim, losing four matches on the bounce over the last month before picking up a 3-2 win over Boavista at the weekend.
However, that victory was far from convincing, as they allowed a goal advantage to slip twice in the match and required a Trincao brace to get them over the line after Viktor Gyokeres' opener in the first half.
With that, Gyokeres took his tally for this season to 25 goals in 21 matches across all competitions, including 18 in just 14 Primeira Liga games to date.
Notably, much of Os Leoes' difficulties of late have stemmed from their poor defensive performances, with the last match marking the fourth time they conceded two or more goals in their last five matches across all competitions.
In the Taca de Portugal, Sporting snatched a late winner to overcome Portimonense 2-1 in their first match during round three before smashing in six without response against lower-league outfit Amarante in the last round.
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Meanwhile, Santa Clara are the underdogs in this match but will arrive in Lisbon with a psychological advantage, having beaten this opponent at this venue 1-0 at the end of last month.
That result made them the only side to earn a victory in the top flight at Estadio Jose Alvalade this season, and they are now also the only team to have beaten Sporting on their home patch in a league match since February 2023.
Additionally, that victory came during a four-match winning streak for Os Acorianos, a period during which they managed to move into the top four in the league standings in just their first season back in the Primeira Liga.
While Santa Clara did lose their weekend fixture 1-0 away to Arouca, they have still posted 27 points in their first 14 league games this season, already five points more than they managed in their relegation campaign in 2022-23.
The visitors have played 10 games across all competitions on the road this season and have split the results five wins and five defeats, though two of those wins came in the Taca de Portugal, both by 1-0 scorelines over Gondomar and Famalicao.
Team News
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Denmark under-21s forward Conrad Harder has started both Sporting's matches in this competition, and he will likely be given the nod again this week having already netted three times.
The hosts will be without at least four players for this match due to injury, including Daniel Braganca (muscle), Hidemasa Morita (thigh), Pedro Goncalves (muscle) and Nuno Santos (knee).
Gabriel Silva and Bruno Almeida have scored Santa Clara's goals in the previous rounds of this competition, but the latter is a doubt for this trip, having missed last weekend's defeat away to Arouca.
The visitors will also be without defender Diogo Calila and midfielder Pedro Ferreira owing to suspensions, while Pedro Pacheco has been ruled out for the rest of this season with a serious ACL injury.
Sporting Lisbon possible starting lineup:
Kovacevic; Reis, St. Juste, Fresneda, Esgaio; Simoes, Hjulmand, Catamo; Araujo, Harder, Quenda
Santa Clara possible starting lineup:
Neneca; Lima, Soares, Rocha, Pereira; Ferreira, Adriano, Nunes; Silva, Safira, Lopez
We say: Sporting Lisbon 2-1 Santa Clara
Sporting Lisbon have been a long way from their best over the last month but will see this as an opportunity to exact their revenge for the defeat they were handed by this opponent in the league last month.
Given Santa Clara's record this season, they certainly deserve to be respected in this contest, but we feel that it will be the hosts that will progress to the last eight.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
