The penultimate game of matchday three in the Taca da Liga will see Tondela facing off against Sporting Lisbon at Estadio Joao Cardoso on Saturday evening.
Sporting are heavily fancied to progress to the semi-final, needing just one point from this match, but Tondela still have an outside chance and can sneak through if they win this fixture by two clear goals.
Match preview
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Tondela deserve credit for their performance in this competition so far, and while unlikely, they could yet clinch a spot in the final four, albeit that it will take an almighty performance to beat the Primeira Liga leaders by a two-goal margin.
In this competition, the Gold and Greens have already overcome Segunda Liga leaders Santa Clara in round one before earning a resilient 1-0 win over Vitoria de Guimaraes in the second round to book their spot in the group stage.
Toze Marreco's side are also still alive in the Taca de Portugal, but they have struggled to replicate their cup form in the league this season, where they are sat in eighth place and nine points behind the top three.
Still, while it is a long shot, with their opponents likely to rotate their squad in this match, there will be hope in the home camp, and an early goal for the hosts in this contest could make it interesting.
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Meanwhile, needing just a point to progress, Sporting will welcome the opportunity to rest a few of their players following a gruelling run on fixtures both in the league and in Europe.
The Lions come into this match fresh off a challenging 2-0 win over Porto last weekend, which saw them retain their place atop the league standings, one point clear of defending champions Benfica.
They also booked their place in the knockout stages of the Europa League last week, finishing on 11 points, which was good enough for second place in their group behind Atalanta.
Ruben Amorim's side beat Farense 4-2 in their first match in this competition when Viktor Gyokeres marked the occasion with a hat-trick, while Nuno Santos also got himself on the scoresheet.
Historically, the visitors have dominated this fixture, winning each of the last five matches against this opponent dating back to June 2020, and only conceded one goal in that time while scoring 12 in return.
Team News
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Iuri Miguel is expected to miss a large part of the season due to a knee injury, which should see Ricardo Silva continue between the sticks for the hosts in this match.
Roberto Rodrigo scored in stoppage time to salvage a point against Benfica II at the weekend and should lead the line again in this one alongside Rui Gomes.
Jerry St Juste is the only injury absentee for Sporting, and the defender is expected to remain sidelined until the end of January.
Francisco Trincao and Paulinho are expected to line up in attack with Gyokeres, while Goncalo Inacio and Daniel Braganca should make up the central midfield partnership.
Tondela possible starting lineup:
Silva; Bebeto, Alves, Ba, Barros; Costinha, Xaver, Clebinho; Farias, Gomes, Roberto
Sporting Lisbon possible starting lineup:
Israel; Coates, Diomande, Reis; Esgaio, Inacio, Braganca, Santos; Trincao, Gyokeres, Paulinho
We say: Tondela 1-3 Sporting Lisbon
Sporting are heavily fancied to get through to the semi-final of this competition and will be aware of the importance of keeping their momentum going heading into the New Year. We expect a whole-hearted effort from the hosts here but feel that they will be bowing out of the competition at the final whistle of this match.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Devesh Jaganath
