Sporting Lisbon will be looking to bounce back from their midweek Champions League disappointment when they welcome Santa Clara to Estadio Jose Alvalade in Saturday's gameweek 12 Primeira Liga encounter.
Joao Pereira's men, thrashed 5-1 by Arsenal on home soil in Europe, seek to continue their unblemished league start against their fourth-placed opponents.
Match preview
Having shown their attacking prowess to secure a stunning 4-1 victory over Manchester City in Ruben Amorim's final European match before departing for Manchester United, the Lions were silenced by Arsenal to end their three-month unbeaten streak.
It was the first time the Lisbon giants have conceded five times on their turf in all competitions since Pep Guardiola's Cityzens beat them 5-0 in February 2022, and they seek a response in Pereira's first Liga match since replacing Amorim.
The departed two-time league-winning manager secured 11 consecutive victories before leaving for Old Trafford, with Pereira keen to pick up where his predecessor left off.
The Lions have not dropped league points in front of their supporters since Benfica held them to a 2-2 draw in May 2023, a statistic they aim to extend on Saturday.
Pereira already tasted success in his opening match as first-team boss in the Taca de Portugal victory against Amarante (6-0), and a similar outcome against this weekend's opponents will be what the doctor ordered for the new head coach.
It will be interesting to see if high-flying Santa Clara halt Sporting's 22-match Liga winning run at the Jose Alvalade despite falling to three consecutive road defeats in the league against Benfica (1-4), Moreirense (0-1) and Nacional (0-2).
Those road defeats followed back-to-back away victories after regaining promotion, but Vasco Matos's men have been brought back down to earth with recent results.
Regardless, the Azoreans' fourth-place standing after 11 rounds deserves plaudits, and they seek a positive result in Lisbon to hold on to that position.
With Braga (20 points) a point adrift of the team in fourth, the promoted side could slide to fifth if they drop points to the table-topping club and their closest challengers take care of business against 11th-placed Gil Vicente.
However, given their wretched record against Sporting — Santa Clara have lost the previous four match-ups and nine of the past 10 — the travelling support may dread Saturday's outcome.
Team News
Although Viktor Gyokeres was barely given a sniff by Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba midweek, the in-form forward seeks to find the net against Santa Clara to extend his eight-match Liga scoring run at the Jose Alvalade.
Francisco Trincao leads the way for clear-cut chances (eight) and assists (eight) for the home side in league action, and he aims to be decisive with his creativity this weekend.
Zeno Debast is uncertain to start for Sporting, but Pedro Goncalves and Nuno Santos are not expected to be available for selection.
Santa Clara are without the suspended Sidney Lima and Gabriel Silva, while Pedro Pacheco and Ricardinho could miss out due to injury.
With Ricardinho (three goals) possibly absent, the onus is on top-scoring Vinicius Lopes to come up trumps and add to his four league strikes in Lisbon.
The away side will hope Matheus Pereira can continue his strong attacking form from wing-back when they face the league leaders, keen to add to four big chances created and three assists.
Sporting Lisbon possible starting lineup:
Israel; St. Juste, Diomande, Inacio; Quenda, Morita, Hjulmand, Araujo; Trincao, Gyokeres, Catamo
Santa Clara possible starting lineup:
Batista; Venancio, Rocha, Ramos; Calila, Ferreira, Firmino, Pereira; Lopes, Safira, Almeida
We say: Sporting Lisbon 3-0 Santa Clara
Despite their hammering at the hands of Arsenal, Sporting should return to winning ways in Saturday's Liga action against Santa Clara to banish the memories of that loss and extend their winning top-flight streak in Lisbon
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