Fresh off the back of an emphatic victory over Besiktas in the Champions League, Sporting Lisbon resume their Primeira Liga title defence as they welcome Moreirense to the Estadio Jose Alvalade on Saturday.
The visitors snatched a last-gasp goal to force a share of the spoils when the sides last met back in April and will be looking to replicate that performance and keep their fine form going.
Match preview
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Sporting Lisbon got their Champions League campaign up and running courtesy of a thrilling 4-1 victory over Turkish outfit Besiktas when the sides squared off at the Vodafone Park last Tuesday.
Having lost their opening two games, both sides were in dire need of all three points and after Cyle Larin cancelled out Sebastian Coates's 15th-minute opener, the Uruguayan added his second of the game to restore the Leoes' lead before Pablo Sarabia and Paulinho netted to widen the margin.
Prior to that, Ruben Amorim's men progressed to the fourth round of the Taca de Portugal courtesy of a comfortable 4-0 win over Os Belenenses last Friday, where Tiago Tomas netted a brace before Jovane Cabral and Nuno Santos scored in a three-minute spell to cap off a brilliant team performance.
They now turn their sights to the Primeira Liga, where they are on a three-game winning streak, edging out Estoril Praia, Maritimo and Arouca respectively since playing out a 1-1 draw with Porto on September 11.
Sporting Lisbon, who ended their two-decade trophy drought in the Primeira Liga last season, are currently third on the log, level on points with Porto and one point behind league leaders Benfica, and will fancy their chances of retaining their title.
The reigning champions remain one of just two sides yet to taste defeat in the league this season and this has been owing to a solid performance at the defensive end of the pitch, where they boast the division's meanest record with just four goals conceded.
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Meanwhile, Moreirense secured their spot in the fourth round of the Taca de Portugal last time out courtesy of a 3-2 extra-time win over third-tier side Oriental Dragon.
With the scores level after 90 minutes, the game progressed to extra time, where substitute Andre Aguiar came up trumps for the Os verdes e brancos in the 113th minute when he netted the winner.
Prior to that, Joao Henriques's side claimed a 2-1 victory over Arouca on September 25 to end their winless start to the season before playing out a bore draw with Maritimo a little under a week later.
This upsurge in form has seen Moreirense move out of the relegation zone as they currently occupy 14th place on the log, two points above Arouca in the relegation playoff spot.
While they will look to keep the juggernaut rolling and strengthen their position in the table, they face the daunting task of going up against an opposing side who have won each of the most recent six meetings between the sides and are unbeaten in their last 18.
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Team News
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Portuguese superstar Pedro Goncalves, who netted an impressive 23 goals last term, is in line to make his first league appearance since picking up an injury against Famalicao on August 28 after the 23-year-old recently returned from the sidelines.
However, Sporting Lisbon will take to the pitch without Brazilian forward Tabata, who has missed the last two games through a knee injury he sustained against Aurora three Sundays ago.
Spanish forward Pablo Sarabia opened his account for the club against Besiktas last time out and we expect the Paris Saint-Germain loanee to be handed his fourth consecutive league start.
Moreirense, on the other hand, remain without Jefferson Galego after the Brazilian forward picked up a knee injury in the league opener against Benfica back in August.
Other than that, Henriques has a full-strength squad at his disposal and we expect the Portuguese manager to name his strongest side for the daunting task of taking on the reigning champions.
With four goals so far this term, Andre Luis has been a star performer for Moreirense and we expect the Brazilian forward to handle business at the attacking end of the pitch once again.
Sporting Lisbon possible starting lineup:
Adan; Neto, Coates, Feddal; Porro, Palhinha, Braganca, Reis; Goncalves, Sarabia, Paulinho
Moreirense possible starting lineup:
Pasinato; Jorge, Vitoria, Rosic; Ramos, Pacheco, Soares, Conte; Santos, Martins, Luis
We say: Sporting Lisbon 3-0 Moreirense
Moreirense head into the game in rejuvenated form as they appear to have hit their stride after a rough start to the season. While they will be looking to keep the ball rolling, they face a rampant Sporting Lisbon side who last lost a league home game in January 2020. We are tipping the reigning champions to claim all three points unscathed in this one.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Sporting Lisbon win with a probability of 60.39%. A draw had a probability of 23.6% and a win for Moreirense had a probability of 16.02%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sporting Lisbon win was 1-0 with a probability of 14.7%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (12.54%) and 2-1 (9.35%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.95%), while for a Moreirense win it was 0-1 (6.42%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 14.7% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for Sporting Lisbon in this match.
