Two heavyweights of Portuguese football meet on Tuesday night as Sporting Lisbon and Porto clash in the semi-final of Taca da Liga, with the victor going on to meet either Braga or Benfica in the final.

Both sides had relatively easy wins in the previous round, with Sporting booking their place in the semi-final with a routine win over Mafra, while Porto survived a late scare to come through 2-1 against Pacos de Ferreira.

Match preview

Sporting Lisbon manager Ruben Amorim pictured in October 2020 © Reuters

Ruben Amorim will be looking to continue his side's success in this competition, having won the cup in both 2017–18 and 2018–19, but falling in the semis in 2020 to the eventual winners Braga.

Sporting will hope to get back to winning ways after a draw and loss in their last two, which were preceded by six straight wins.

That said, their form against Porto has not been the best in recent years. Sporting have only one win against Porto in their last six, which came by way of a penalty shootout after the two teams could not be separated after extra time in the Taca de Portugal.

Sporting have become very consistent at home, though, and are unbeaten in their last eight in all competitions, including a 2-2 draw with Tuesday's opposition.

Porto head coach Sergio Conceicao pictured on November 3, 2020 © Reuters

From Porto's perspective, they will see this fixture as a way to not only knock their rivals out of the cup but to gain a mental advantage in what is set to be a closely-fought title race.

Sergio Conceicao's side have really started to click of late, winning eight of their last nine, and scoring 23 goals in that time.

Still, Conceicao will be hoping they can recreate that form on Tuesday as they go in search of their first-ever Taca da Liga trophy.

Porto have the rather unwanted record of being runners-up the most times (four), since the domestic cup started - a record they will be looking to set straight this season.

Sporting Lisbon Taca da Liga form: W
Sporting Lisbon form (all competitions): WWWWLD

Porto Taca da Liga form: W
Porto form (all competitions): WWWWWD

Team News

Porto manager Sergio Conceicao pictured in October 2020 © Reuters

Having rotated his key players in recent weeks, Amorim is expected to have a fresh squad to choose from for this match up.

Adan, Sebastian Coates, Joao Mario and Pedro Goncalves should all come back into the first XI.

Having found himself in a similar position to Amorim, Conceicao is expected to revert to his strongest team for this one.

The likes of Malang Sarr, Marko Grujic and Toni Martinez will be pushing for places, but will likely have to make do with places on the bench.

Sporting Lisbon possible starting lineup:
Adan; Neto, Coates, Feddal; Porro, Joao Mario, Palhinha, Mendes; Goncalves, Santos; Sporar

Porto possible starting lineup:
Marchesin; Nanu, Mbemba, Leite, Sanusi; Corona, Oliveira, Uribe, Otavio; Marega, Taremi

SM words green background

We say: Sporting Lisbon 1-2 Porto

The outcome of this match may well come down to firepower, and with plenty in their armoury, we are going for Porto to emerge victorious here. Sporting have struggled to get one over on their rivals in recent times, and we expect that run to continue, with Porto progressing to the final.

Top betting tip

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Written by
Alex Mills