Relegation-threatened Estoril Praia take on recently-crowned champions Sporting Lisbon at the Estadio Antonio Coimbra da Mota on Saturday in the penultimate matchday of the Primeira Liga season.
While the visitors secured the title with a victory last time out, the hosts are still looking to guarantee their safety with two points from the remaining games enough to ensure their survival.
Match preview
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Estoril have found themselves within the relegation zone on multiple occasions this season but are now on the verge of safety as they hold a five-point lead over 16th-placed Portimonense with just two games remaining.
That leaves Vasco Seabra's men needing two points to guarantee their place in the division next season, while any dropped points for Portimonense will also ensure their survival.
After multiple difficult spells throughout the campaign that had Estoril residing in the drop zone, including winning just one of their opening nine league games and one of the first 10 at the start of 2024, Seabra deserves plenty of credit for guiding his side to a promising position for survival.
A large reason for Estoril's rise to safety has been the positive home record that has seen them pick up the sixth most points of any side in the league when playing in front of their fans, taking 25 points from 16 games.
They now come into this home match against champions Sporting Lisbon having lost just one of their last four outings at the Estadio Antonio Coimbra da Mota, winning the remaining three by 1-0 scorelines.
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As for the visitors, they secured the league title last weekend after second-placed Benfica suffered a shock 2-0 defeat to lowly Famalicao in a match they had to win, having seen Sporting Lisbon move to the brink of glory with a 3-0 win over Portimonense earlier in the weekend.
After a second half of the season that saw boss Ruben Amorim regularly linked with moves away - most notably to Liverpool and West Ham United - the in-demand manager pledged to stay with the newly-crowned champions after leading them to a second league title, drawing a line under the distracting speculation which at one point led to him making a public apology for holding talks with the Hammers.
The next immediate challenge for Amorim will be ensuring that his players can finish the season strongly, and on Saturday they will be looking to extend their current 17-game unbeaten run in domestic competition, while they have only lost one of their last 21 across all competitions.
Sporting Lisbon will certainly be confident of recording another victory in this game having come out victorious in all of the last five meetings between these two.
Viktor Gyokeres is likely to play a part in any potential victory for the visitors with the striker currently on 27 goals in the league, and the Swede will be hoping to become the first player to net 30 times in the Primeira Liga since Jonas scored 34 in 2017-18.
Team News
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Both sides are likely to be without four players for the penultimate league match of the campaign.
The hosts will be without Erick Cabaco, Jordan Holsgrove and Nemanja Jovic due to injury.
Mateus Fernandes is also unavailable for this match as the midfielder is ineligible to play against his parent club.
Amorim will be without his two first-choice goalkeeping options as both Antonio Adan and Franco Israel miss out through injury, leaving Diogo Pinto likely to make his first start in the Primeira Liga.
Matheus Reis returned to the bench for the match against Portimonense and is expected to remain as a substitute in this one.
Marcus Edwards is the final player unavailable for this one as he serves the second of his two-match ban.
Estoril Praia possible starting lineup:
Carne; Basso, Alvaro, Vital; Pina, Zanocelo, Michel, Gomes; Andrade, Cassiano, Marques
Sporting Lisbon possible starting lineup:
Pinto; Quaresma, Coates, Inacio; Catamo, Hjulmand, Morita, Santos; Trincao, Gyokeres, Pote
We say: Estoril Praia 1-3 Sporting Lisbon
Estoril's home form may have been their biggest strength this season but Sporting Lisbon are the much superior side and will be high on confidence after being crowned champions last weekend, leading us to believe the visitors will be victorious in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ellis Stevens
