Both seeking to pick up a third Primeira Liga victory on the trot, Vitoria de Guimaraes and Sporting Lisbon lock horns at the Dom Afonso Henriques on Sunday.
The reigning champions will also be looking to complete a second consecutive league double over the hosts after claiming a 1-0 victory back in October's reverse fixture.
Match preview
© Reuters
Vitoria de Guimaraes made it two wins from two for the third time this season last Sunday when they saw off a dogged Maritimo side 1-0 away from home.
Following a drab first half at the Estadio do Maritimo, substitute Nicolas Janvier came up trumps from the visitors as he scored the only goal of the game with eight minutes left to play.
Prior to that, Vitoria de Guimaraes ended their run of three consecutive losses as they claimed a 2-1 comeback win over Famalicao on March 6, when Oscar Estupinan and Rochinha scored to cancel out Pepe's opener and turn the game on its head.
This upturn in form has seen Pepa's side rise to sixth place in the Primeira Liga standings with 35 points from 26 games, nine points off Gil Vicente in the final playoff spot.
While they will look to keep the juggernaut rolling, standing in their way is an opposing side who they have failed to defeat in each of the last six meetings between the teams since 2019, claiming one draw and losing five, including each of their most recent three encounters.
© Reuters
Sporting Lisbon, on the other hand, continued to chase down Porto at the top of the league table as they claimed a 2-0 victory at Moreirense last time out.
In-form forward Islam Slimani delivered the goods once again as he opened the scoring in the 29th minute before Paulinho made sure of the result as he doubled the lead 10 minutes later.
Ruben Amorim's side head into the weekend unbeaten in seven consecutive Primeira Liga games, claiming five wins and two draws since a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Braga on January 22.
Sporting Lisbon have now won 20, drawn four and lost two of their 26 games this season to collect 64 points and sit second in the table, six points off rivals Porto, who are yet to taste defeat in the league this season.
- W
- L
- L
- L
- W
- W
- W
- D
- W
- D
- W
- W
- W
- D
- L
- W
- D
- W
Team News
© Reuters
The Portuguese duo of Joao Palhinha and Pedro Goncalves returned from their injury lay-offs in Monday's game against Moreirense, meaning Sporting Lisbon now boasts a clean bill of health.
Goncalves and Pablo Sarabia were handed cameo appearances off the bench last Monday, and we expect them to come into the XI on Saturday, potentially at the expense of Marcus Edwards and Paulinho respectively.
Slimani has hit the ground running in the Portuguese league, registering four goals and one assist in six games since his arrival in January, and the former Leicester City man will definitely be one to keep an eye out for.
Like the reigning champions, Vitoria de Guimaraes head into Saturday's game without any injury or suspension concerns, giving Pepa the luxury of a full-strength squad at his disposal.
Janvier staked his claim for a starting role after coming off the bench to grab the winner against Maritimo last time out and the French forward could be rewarded with just his fifth starting appearance this weekend.
Vitoria de Guimaraes possible starting lineup:
Varela; Maga, Fernandes, Mumin, Soares; Almeida, Semedo; Lameiras, Silva, Rochinha; Estupinan
Sporting Lisbon possible starting lineup:
Adan; Neto, Coates, Feddal; Porro, Nunes, Ugarte, Reis; Goncalves, Slimani, Sarabia
We say: Vitoria de Guimaraes 0-2 Sporting Lisbon
Vitoria de Guimaraes have enjoyed a fine run of results in the month of March and this could kindle a late charge for the playoffs places. However, next up is a Sporting Lisbon side who they have failed to defeat in each of their last six encounters, while losing each of the last three. With their European dreams over, Sporting Lisbon will fully focus on their title defence and we predict they will maintain their fine form and come away with a comfortable win 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 51.95%. A win for Vitoria de Guimaraes had a probability of 25.43% and a draw had a probability of 22.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sporting Lisbon win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.66%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (8.33%) and 0-2 (7.77%). The likeliest Vitoria de Guimaraes win was 2-1 (6.44%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.35%). The actual scoreline of 1-3 was predicted with a 6% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Sporting Lisbon would win this match.
