Seeking to pick up a third consecutive home victory, Portimonense welcome Sporting Lisbon to the Estadio Municipal de Portimao in round 23 of the Primeira Liga on Saturday.
The Leoes, who are unbeaten in 10 consecutive games against the hosts, head into the weekend on a run of four consecutive away wins across all competitions and will look to keep the juggernaut rolling.
Match preview
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Portimonense continue to struggle for results away from home as they suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Famalicao when the sides squared off last Friday.
In a cagey affair at the Estadio Municipal de Famalicao, Spezia loanee Leandro Sanca came up clutch for the Vila Nova as he came off the bench to grab the only goal of the game in the 85th minute.
While Portimonense have lost each of their last six away matches, they now return home, where they are on a two-game winning streak and unbeaten in their three fixtures since the turn of the year.
With 26 points from 14 matches, Paulo Sergio's men are currently 14th in the Primeira Liga standings, level on points with Vizela, Gil Vicente and Chaves, and could move level on points with eighth-placed Boavista with a win this weekend.
Next up for Portimonense is the stern challenge of taking on a Sporting Lisbon side who have won each of the last three meetings between the teams and are unbeaten in their last 10 encounters, claiming nine wins and one draw since a 4-2 loss in October 2018.
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With 12 games to go before the curtains are drawn on the 2022-23 Primeira Liga campaign, the goal for Ruben Amorim's side will be to secure a place in the Champions League.
Sporting Lisbon have picked up 14 wins, two draws and lost six of their 22 matches to sit fourth in the league standings, five points adrift of third-placed Braga in the Champions League qualifying places.
The 19-time Portuguese champions head into the weekend off the back of picking up a fifth league win in six matches as they edged out Estoril Praia 2-0 at the Estadio Jose Alvalade last Monday.
Former Arsenal and Barcelona full-back Hector Bellerin opened his account for the Lisbon outfit in the 40th minute to hand them a first-half lead before Francisco Trincao made sure of the victory with a 51st-minute strike.
Prior to that, Amorim's side booked their place in the round of 16 of the Europa League as they secured an emphatic 4-0 win over Midtjylland to edge out the Danish outfit 5-1 on aggregate.
Sporting Lisbon head into the weekend on a run of four consecutive away victories across all competitions, while they are unbeaten in seven of their last eight since the start of November.
Team News
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Portimonense will take to the pitch without Portuguese defender Goncalo Costa, who is set to sit out his eighth straight game after picking a muscle injury in January's game against Benfica.
Bruno Reis is yet to make an appearance this year after coming off injured against Casa Pia last December and the 23-year-old midfielder will play no part in Saturday's game.
Brazilian forward Carlinhos is also out of contention for the hosts as he continues his long journey to full fitness after sustaining an ACL injury last May.
Meanwhile, Sporting Lisbon will be without the services of 23-year-old Daniel Braganca, who continues his rehabilitation after suffering a cruciate ligament rupture last May.
The Leoes will be boosted by the return of Manuel Ugarte, who is now available for selection after missing Monday's game against Estoril Praia through a one-match suspension for crossing the yellow card threshold with his booking against Chaves on February 20.
Portimonense possible starting lineup:
Nakamura; Moufi, Relvas, Pedrao, Lucas, Seck; Mauricio, Moreira, Ventura; Junior, Rochez
Sporting Lisbon possible starting lineup:
Adan; Inacio, Coates, Juste; Esgaio, Ugarte, Morita, Santos; Edwards, Goncalves, Paulinho
We say: Portimonense 0-1 Sporting Lisbon
While Portimonense have been rock-solid at home this year, they are in for a tough 90 minutes against a Sporting Lisbon side who have put together a fine run of results in recent weeks. Given the gulf in quality and experience between the two sides, we predict that the Leoes will come away with all three points, albeit by the odd goal.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
