Two sides fighting at opposite ends of the Primeira Liga table will square off on Thursday, as strugglers Vizela welcome league leaders Sporting Lisbon.
On the back of four straight victories, the visitors sit just a point clear of rivals Benfica at the summit of Portugal's top flight, while their visitors are three points adrift of safety and without a league win in the last seven outings.
Match preview
© Reuters
At the halfway point of the Primeira Liga season, after an 11th-placed finish last time around, Vizela find themselves in a concerning position in their bid to maintain top-flight status, as they currently sit in the relegation zone with 13 points on the board from their opening 17 outings.
Across those games, the Vizelenses have only managed two victories and suffered eight defeats, while no other side in the division have scored as few as their 16 goals at this stage.
The more recent of their two triumphs came away at Casa Pia in early November, but Vizela have been unable to add another notch to their wins column in seven top-flight attempts since, and new boss Ruben de la Barrera has not managed to inspire a notable improvement thus far, with his first three league matches in charge producing two points.
His tenure began with 0-0 and 1-1 draws with Moreirense and Estrela Amadora before Christmas and at the beginning of the new year respectively, before they were at least able to taste victory in the Taca de Portugal last Wednesday, beating Arouca 1-0 to progress to the quarter-finals as Nino Galovic's own goal made the only difference.
They were unable to build on that on Sunday, though, suffering a 4-1 thrashing at home to Boavista on their return to league action as Samuel Essende's 87th-minute goal was nothing more than a consolation, and now sitting two points behind Rio Ave in the relegation playoff place and three points adrift of safety, Vizela will be desperate to stop the rot and begin a climb out of the bottom three.
© Reuters
They face a particularly unenviable task, though, as the visitors arrive aiming to make it five top-flight wins on the bounce to extend their lead at the summit of the division heading into the second half of the campaign.
Looking to regain the Primeira Liga title after last prevailing in the 2020-21 season, Sporting Lisbon have enjoyed an eye-catching first half of the new term, amassing 43 points from their opening 17 games with only three of those not ending in victory.
Ruben Amorim's side have largely excelled in attack, with only Braga matching their tally of 40 league goals thus far, and after suffering just a second Primeira Liga defeat of the season away at Vitoria de Guimaraes in early December, they have bounced back in characteristically impressive fashion, putting four more consecutive wins together to maintain their position at the summit.
Os Leoes firstly saw off title rivals Porto in a 2-0 home triumph before prevailing over Portimonense and Estoril Praia and booking their place in the Taca de Portugal quarter-finals with a 4-0 thrashing of Tondela thanks to braces from Pedro Goncalves and Viktor Gyokeres.
Now on the back of a seventh straight win across all competitions, as they beat Chaves 3-0 away from home in the Primeira Liga on Saturday thanks to goals from Paulinho, Francisco Trincao and Goncalves, Sporting Lisbon remain a point clear of Benfica and five ahead of Porto at the halfway point of the campaign, and they will be desperate to strengthen their title bid further with the chance to increase their lead on Thursday.
Team News
© Reuters
Vizela will likely continue to deal with several injury issues on Thursday, as wingers Nuno Moreira and Dylan Saint-Louis are set to remain sidelined alongside midfielder Pedro Ortiz and attacker Jardel.
While Ruben de la Barrera may opt to make several changes to the starting XI after their 4-1 beating last time out, Samuel Essende is bound to again lead the line for the hosts, having netted his eighth Primeira Liga goal of the season in that defeat.
Matias Lacava and Abdul Awudu will hope to keep their places on the wings in support of the front man, despite competition from Alberto Soro, while Samu is another threat from midfield, having contributed four goals of his own this term.
Ruben Amorim may opt to deploy an unchanged Sporting Lisbon starting XI from their 3-0 triumph over Chaves last time out, with Ousmane Diomande and Geny Catamo remaining away on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations and midfielder Hidemasa Morita with Japan at the Asian Cup, while Jeremiah St Juste may also remain sidelined by injury.
The absences of Diomande and St Juste leaves Os Leoes light in defence, although there is little cause for concern given the clean sheet at the weekend with Sebastian Coates fighting to come in from the outset alongside Goncalo Inacio and Matheus Reis in a back three after replacing 21-year-old Eduardo Quaresma at half time of the Chaves win.
Elsewhere, in the absence of Morita, attacker Pedro Goncalves has taken up a makeshift role alongside Morten Hjulmand in the centre and will continue to play a key role going forward, while Viktor Gyokeres, who has netted 20 goals across all competitions since his summer arrival in the Portuguese capital, will continue to lead the line with support from fellow danger men Paulinho and Francisco Trincao, both of whom got on the scoresheet alongside Goncalves last time out.
Vizela possible starting lineup:
Buntic; Oliveira, Wilson, Anderson, Pereira; Lacava, Nascimento, Samu, Bustamente, Soro; Essende
Sporting Lisbon possible starting lineup:
Adan; Inacio, Coates, Reis; Esgaio, Hjumland, Goncalves, Santos; Trincao, Gyokeres, Paulinho
We say: Vizela 0-3 Sporting Lisbon
The loss of several key players to international duty certainly has not seemed to affect Sporting Lisbon thus far, and we again see them having far too much for a struggling side on Thursday.
With an abundance of quality in all departments, particularly going forward, Amorim's side should cruise to another victory in their bid to build a lead in the race for the Primeira Liga title.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Sam Varley
