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Maritimo host Sporting in their upcoming Portuguese Primeira Liga fixture on Friday night at the Estádio dos Barreiros, Madeira.
The league leaders have a comfortable four-point lead at the top and are the only team across Europe's top leagues to have not suffered a defeat yet.
They secured a narrow but important 1-0 win over Lisbon rivals Benfica in their previous outing.
Maritimo have three losses in their last four outings and are in 10th place with 17 points to their name.
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Maritimo vs Sporting Head-to-Head
The two sides have locked horns 66 times across all competitions since 1990. In total, 43 games have ended in a win for Leões while the hosts have just 13 wins to their name.
Ten games have produced stalemates in this fixture. Os Verde-Rubros have won just twice in their last 18 attempts against the Lisbon giants.
These sides last met in January this year in the Taca de Portugal round-of-16 fixture, when the hosts knocked out Sporting with a 2-0 win at Friday's venue.
Maritimo vs Sporting Team News
Maritimo
Maritimo do not have any injury concerns at this moment. They will also be able to welcome back the duo of Claudio Winck and Edgar Costa after they served a one-game suspension.
Injuries: None
Doubtful: None
Suspensions: None
Sporting
Fortunately for Rúben Amorim, there are no injury concerns for his side in this trip to the island of Madeira. Bruno Tabata returned to the fold in the previous outing, and no other players are currently in isolation on account of COVID-19.
New signings Paulinho and Matheus Reis have trained with the group and are in contention to make their debut for the club.
Injuries: None
Doubtful: None
Suspensions: None
Maritimo vs Sporting Predicted XI
Maritimo Predicted XI (3-4-3): Amir Abedzadeh; Zainadine Junior, Rene Santos, Lucas Áfrico; Marcelo Hermes, Claudio Winck, Pedro Pelágio, Irmer; Rafik Guitane, Joel, Rodrigo Pinho
Sporting Predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Antonio Adan; Zouhair Feddal, Sebastian Coates, Luis Neto; Nuno Mendes, Mattheus Nunes, Joao Mario, Pedro Porro; Nuno Santos, Pedro Goncalves; Tomas
Maritimo vs Sporting Prediction
Sporting have the best defensive record in the league, having conceded just nine goals so far. They have kept a clean sheet in five of their eight matches in 2021.
Maritimo, on the other hand, have failed to score in their last two league games and suffered a 3-1 loss in their Taca de Portugal quarter-final fixture.
We expect Sporting's unbeaten run in the league to be extended in this fixture, bringing it to 17 games. The odds of a clean sheet for the visitors also look good as Sporting take home three points.
Prediction: Maritimo 0-2 Sporting
Also See: Benfica vs Vitoria Guimaraes prediction, preview, team news and more | Portuguese Primeira Liga 2020-21
