Sporting Lisbon host second division side Mafra in the Taca da Liga quarter-finals on Tuesday evening.
The Portuguese giants will be hoping to keep their dream of winning some silverware alive in midweek when they welcome Jorge Neves's side to the Estadio Jose Alvalade stadium.
Match preview
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Sporting Lisbon are currently leading the Portuguese Primeira Liga after winning seven of their opening nine league matches and drawing the other two.
The capital club have only lost one game in 2020-21 in all competitions - a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Austrian outfit LASK Linz in the Europa League qualifying stages.
Last season their League Cup journey ended in the semi-final stages, and the Leoes will be determined to reach the last four again when they come up against lower league opposition.
Ruben Amorim's side are unbeaten in their last 13 matches on home soil and will be confident of extending that record going into this midweek game.
Mafra come into this cup clash on the back of two consecutive defeats in domestic competition.
They are also without a goal in over 180 minutes of football after firing blanks in their last two outings, a stat that will have to change if they want to progress to the semi-finals of the competition.
Jorge Neves's men are currently in fourth place in the Portuguese second division after picking up 21 points from their opening 11 games of the season.
The pressure will be completely off the second-tier side, and they will be hoping a cup upset is on the cards.
Sporting Lisbon form (all competitions): WWWWDW
Mafra form (all competitions): WLWWLL
Team News
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Sporting currently have three players ruled out through positive coronavirus test results. Goalkeeper Renan Ribeiro, winger Gonzalo Plata and full-back Stefan Ristovski are all unavailable due to COVID-19.
Wide-man Jovane Cabral is also sidelined with an injury, while Amorim may decide to rest some of his key players.
Twenty-two-year-old midfielder Pedro Goncalves has hit the ground running since joining in the summer, bagging 10 league goals in his first eight matches, while young keeper Luis Maximiano could come into the starting XI for just his second appearance of the season.
Much of Mafra's chances in this match will depend on how well Abel Camara plays. The 30-year-old striker is their key man and already has five goals to his name this season.
Mafra supporters will also be hoping influential full-back Guilherme has recovered from injury in time for this one with the defender contributing three goals and providing one assist in 2020-21 already.
Sporting Lisbon possible starting lineup:
Maximiano; Porro, Coates, Neto, Mendes; Palhinha, Mario, Nunes; Tabata, Sporar, Santos
Mafra possible starting lineup:
Godinho; Campos, Miguel, Cunha, Guilherme; Ramos, Kaka, Wenderson, Daniel, Martins; Camara
We say: Sporting Lisbon 3-0 Mafra
Amorim's men are in fine form currently and should have far too much for their lower league opposition. Although it has the potential to be an interesting encounter, Sporting will most likely run out comfortable winners.
George Cannon
