Having booked their place in the round of 16 of the Europa League, Sporting Lisbon are back in action in the Primeira Liga when they take on Estoril Praia on Monday.
The Canarinhos journey to the Estadio Jose Alvalade, where they have lost each of their last five league visits since a 1-0 victory in May 2014 and will be looking to end this poor record.
Match preview
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Sporting Lisbon turned in a performance of the highest quality in Thursday's Europa League playoff second-leg clash against FC Midtjylland as they thrashed the Danish outfit 4-0 at the MCH Arena.
Following last week's 1-1 stalemate, Sebastian Coates, who grabbed a late equaliser in the reverse leg, was at it again as he opened the scoring in the 21st-minute before a second-half brace from Pedro Goncalves and Stefan Gartenmann's 85th-minute own goal put Albert Capellas's side to the sword.
Sporting Lisbon, who spent the first half of the season competing in the Champions League before their group-stage exit, now turn their sights to the Primeira Liga, where they returned to winning ways last Monday courtesy of a 3-2 victory at Chaves.
Prior to that, Ruben Amorim's side were denied a fourth consecutive league victory for the first time this season when they fell to a 2-1 home defeat against rivals Porto on February 12.
While Sporting Lisbon might have given up hope of clinching a second Primeira Liga crown in three years, given that they currently sit 15 points adrift of league leaders Benfica, the goal will be an immediate return to the Champions League.
The 19-time Portuguese champions have already lost six league matches this season, twice as many as they did last season and their joint-highest defeat since the 2019-20 campaign.
Sporting Lisbon have picked up 13 wins and two draws from 21 matches so far to collect 41 points and sit fourth in the Primeira Liga table, eight points off third-placed Braga in the Champions League qualifying playoff spot.
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Estoril Praia, on the other hand, were left empty handed once again as they suffered a 3-1 defeat against rock-bottom Pacos de Ferreira at the Estadio Antonio Coimbra da Mota last Saturday.
After trailing 2-0 at half time courtesy of goals from Adrian Butzke and Nigel Thomas, Francisco Geraldes pulled one back in the 50th minute but substitute Jordan Holsgrove netted four minutes after the hour mark to restore the Pacenses' two-goal advantage.
Nelson Verissimo's side have now lost all but one of their last six outings, with a 2-1 victory over 10-man Boavista on February 9 being the exception, while they head into Monday on a run of six defeats and two draws in their eight away games since October.
Having secured a top-half finish in the league last season, the Canarinhos currently find themselves hovering around the drop zone as they currently occupy 15th-place in the standings, six points above Maritimo in the relegation playoff spot.
While Estoril Praia will be looking to stop the rot, they face the stern challenge of going up against a Sporting Lisbon side who have won each of the last three meetings between the teams and are unbeaten in 13 of their last 15 encounters since October 2010.
Team News
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Sporting Lisbon will be without Manuel Ugarte, who will serve a one-match suspension for crossing the yellow card threshold with his booking against Chaves last Monday.
In his absence of the 21-year-old midfielder, Hidemasa Morita, who has five goals to his name this season, will push for a starting role at the centre of the park.
On the injury front, Amorim will be unable to call upon Daniel Braganca, who continues his rehabilitation after suffering a cruciate ligament rupture last May.
Off the back of an injury-free outing against Pacos de Ferreira, Estoril Praia boast a clean bill of health and we expect Verissimo to name a similar XI on Monday.
With his assist in the aforementioned game, Tiago Gouveia has now been involved in three of the Canarinhos' four goals in 2023 and the Benfica loanee should lead the attack alongside Cassiano and Portuguese forward Tiago Araujo.
Sporting Lisbon possible starting lineup:
Adan; Inacio, Coates, Diomande; Bellerin, Goncalves, Morita, Santos; Edwards, Trincao, Paulinho
Estoril Praia possible starting lineup:
Figueira; Santos, Vital, Alvaro, Joaozinho; Gamboa, Carvalho, Geraldes; Gouveia, Araujo, Cassiano
We say: Sporting Lisbon 3-0 Estoril Praia
Off the back of a dominant Europa League performance, Sporting Lisbon will head into Monday with their morale high and full of confidence. The Leoes have enjoyed the better of this fixture, and given the gulf in experience and quality between the two teams, we are backing them to ease to another victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
