A place in the semi-finals of the Taca da Liga will be up for grabs on Tuesday when Sporting Lisbon and Nacional go head to head at the Estadio Jose Alvalade.
This will be the second meeting between the two teams this season, with the Leoes storming to a 6-1 victory in their Primeira Liga clash at the Estadio da Madeira on August 17.
Match preview
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Sporting Lisbon opened up a six-point lead at the top of the Primeira Liga standings when they picked up a 3-0 victory over Famalicao at the Estadio Municipal de Famalicao on Saturday.
While Famalicao managed to keep the visitors quiet in the first half, Viktor Gyokeres finished off a well-worked team goal to break the deadlock in the 57th minute before Geovany Quenda and Goncalo Inacio added to the scoreline to cap off a dominant display.
Prior to that, the Leoes picked up two comfortable cup wins, seeing off Portimonense in the third round of the Taca de Portugal on October 18, four days before securing a 2-0 victory over Sturm Graz in the Champions League, where they have picked up seven points from their three matches so far.
With the weekend result over Famalicao, Sporting Lisbon have now won each of their nine Primeira Liga matches this season to sit top of the league standings, six points above second-placed Porto, who have one game in hand.
Ruben Amorim's men now turn their focus to the Taca de Portugal, where they will be looking to surpass their semi-final finish last season, when they to a 1-0 defeat against Braga at the Estadio Braga Municipal in Hanuaeg.
Sporting Lisbon, unbeaten in their 18 competitive home games since the turn of the year, head into Tuesday's clash as the second-most decorated side in the cup competition with four titles since their debut in 2008.
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Nacional, on the other hand, were left empty handed yet again as they suffered a 1-0 defeat against Casa Pia in their Primeira Liga clash at the Estádio Municipal de Rio Maior last Friday.
Dutch defender Ruben Kluivert grabbed the headlines for Casa Pia as he netted the only goal of the game nine minutes after the half-hour mark to hand them their third win of the campaign.
This followed a disappointing 2-1 loss against Segunda Liga outfit Uniao Leiria at the Estadio Dr. Magalhaes Pessoa on October 20, a result which saw their Taca de Portugal campaign come to an end in the third round.
Nacional have now gone five back-to-back games without a win across all competitions — losing four and claiming one draw — a run which has seen them plunge to 17th place in the Primeira Liga table, just one point above rock-bottom Farense.
While Tiago Margarido's men will look to stop the rot and kick off their Taca da Liga campaign on a high, they face the daunting challenge of taking on an opposing side whom they have failed to get the better of in 20 straight encounters, including six defeats in the last six meetings between the two teams.
Team News
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Sporting Lisbon will take to the pitch without the services of Eduardo Quaresma and English forward Marcus Edwards, who are currently recuperating from muscle and thigh injuries.
Nuno Santos was forced off injured at half time against Famalicao at the weekend and the experienced full-back is ruled out of Tuesday's clash, meaning that Uruguayan international Maximiliano Araujo could be given the nod.
We expect Amorim to rest some of his heavy hitters on Tuesday, with the likes of Pedro Goncalves, Ousmane Diomande and in-form marksman Gyokeres, who has 25 goal contributions for club and country this season, dropping to the bench.
Nacional, on the other hand, remain without the services of 20-year-old defender Chico Goncalves, who has been sidelined since coming off injured in August.
Brazilian forward Dudu is yet to feature this season after picking up a severe injury in the game against Mafra on May 19 and the 25-year-old is also out of contention for Tuesday's clash.
Sporting Lisbon possible starting lineup:
Kovacevic; Ramos, Debast, Inacio; Araujo, Hjulmand, Braganca, Esgaio; Trincao, Quenda, Harder
Nacional possible starting lineup:
Franca; Garcia, Rocha, Ze Vitor, Gomes; Penha, Dias, Esteves; Macedo, Aguiar, Thomas
We say: Sporting Lisbon 3-0 Nacional
Sporting Lisbon are currently firing on all cylinders under Amorim and will be kicking their lips as they take on an out-of-sorts Nacional side who have struggled for results this season.
While we expect Amorim to ring several changes, the Leoes boast the firepower needed to get the job done and we are backing them to come away with the desired result.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
