Looking to claim their second win in three home matches this season, Estoril Praia play host to Sporting Lisbon at the Estadio Antonio Coimbra da Mota on Friday.
The visitors, who were condemned to a second successive defeat last time out, head into the contest seeking to get back on track and get their campaign up and running.
Estoril Praia bounced back to winning ways in fashion as they comfortably saw off Pacos de Ferreira 3-0 when the sides met at the Estadio Capital do Movel last Friday.
The Canarinhos are now unbeaten in three of their opening four matches of the new Primeira Liga campaign, claiming two wins and one draw, with a 1-0 defeat away to Vitoria de Guimaraes on August 14 being the only exception.
Nelson Verissimo’s side now return home, where they have collected four points from a possible six this season and are unbeaten in their last five league matches, picking up three wins and two draws since April’s 2-1 defeat to Vizela.
Meanwhile, Sporting Lisbon picked up one of their surprise results of the gameweek as they suffered a disappointing 2-0 defeat to newly-promoted Chaves at the Estadio Josa Alvalade last Saturday.
Having suffered a 3-0 defeat against league champions Porto in their previous game, Sporting Lisbon have now lost consecutive league matches for the first time since May 2017, when they were beaten by Belenenses and Feirense respectively.
Ruben Amorim’s side have now managed just one win from their opening four matches, picking up four points from a possible 12 to sit 13th in the Primeira Liga table, eight points behind Benfica at the top of the standings.
The Leoes head into Friday desperate to return to winning ways and claim a morale-booster as they aim to get their league campaign back on track.
Estoril Praia vs Sporting Lisbon head to head
The two teams have previously met on 19 occasions across all competitions, where Estoril have claimed five victories while Sporting have won 11, and they have drawn in three. Estoril have scored 19 goals and conceded 34. In their last five meetings, Estoril have won two while Sporting have won three.
Sporting Lisbon 2-1 Estoril 27/08/17
Estoril 2-0 Sporting Lisbon 04/02/18
Sporting Lisbon 1-2 Estoril 01/11/18
Estoril 0-1 Sporting Lisbon 19/09/21
Sporting Lisbon 3-0 Estoril 20/02/22
Estoril Praia latest home form
Estoril Praia have recently failed to keep a good run of form at home, having won just two of their five most recent matches. They drew 2-2 with Rio Ave in their last home game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored seven goals and conceded nine.
Estoril 1-0 Mafra 16/07/22
Estoril 1-4 Brighton & Hove Albion 16/07/22
Estoril 1-3 Fulham 24/07/22
Estoril 2-0 Famalicao 06/08/22
Estoril 2-2 Rio Ave 19/08/22
Estoril Praia latest away form
Estoril Praia won 3-0 over Pacos Ferreira in their last away game in the league. However, they have recently failed to keep a good run of form on the road, having been winless in their previous 10 matches. In their last five matches, they have scored five goals and conceded eight.
Famalicao 3-1 Estoril 29/04/22
Porto 2-0 Estoril 14/05/22
Portimonense 2-1 Estoril 30/07/22
Vitoria Guimaraes 1-0 Estoril 14/08/22
Pacos Ferreira 0-3 Estoril 26/08/22
Sporting Lisbon latest home form
Sporting Lisbon have recently failed to keep a good run of form at home, having won just one of their five most recent matches. They lost 2-0 to Chaves in their last home game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored five goals and conceded six.
Sporting Lisbon 0-2 Portimonense 20/07/22
Sporting Lisbon 1-1(P) Sevilla 24/07/22
Sporting Lisbon 1-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers 30/07/22
Sporting Lisbon 3-0 Rio Ave 13/08/22
Sporting Lisbon 0-2 Chaves 27/08/22
Sporting Lisbon latest away form
Sporting Lisbon have recently failed to keep a good run of form on the road, having won just two of their five most recent matches. They lost 3-0 to Porto in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored nine goals and conceded nine.
Porto 1-0 Sporting Lisbon 21/04/22
Boavista 0-3 Sporting Lisbon 25/04/22
Portimonense 2-3 Sporting Lisbon 07/05/22
Sporting Braga 3-3 Sporting Lisbon 07/08/22
Porto 3-0 Sporting Lisbon 20/08/22
Estoril Praia news
Verissimo is likely to name a back four of Joaozinho, Bernardo Vital, Pedro Alvaro and Tiago Santos, while Carlos should start upfront alongside Arthur Gomes and Tiago Gouveia.
Estoril Praia will be wothout defender Lucas Africo, who continues his long journey to recovery after suffering a severe knee injury last November.
Sporting Lisbon news
Amorim will be unable to call upon midefielder Daniel Braganca, who has been out of action since May through an ACL injury.
He is joined on the injury table by Paulinho, who is set to sit out his fourth consecutive game after coming off injured in the league opener against Braga on August 7.
Prediction and Odds
While Sporting Lisbon have failed to get their Primeira Liga campaign up and running, we believe that they possess the firepower needed to turn their fortunes around.
The visitors have enjoyed the better of this fixture and we are backing them to continue their dominace over Estoril Praia on Friday.
Odds: 1 2.32 X 2.05 2 1.92
Probable outcomes
Estoril 0-1 Sporting Lisbon
Estoril 0-2 Sporting Lisbon
Estoril 1-2 Sporting Lisbon
Estoril 1-3 Sporting Lisbon
Estoril 1-1 Sporting Lisbon
