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Santa Clara host Sporting at the Estádio de São Miguel in their first Portuguese Primeira Liga fixture of the year.
The home side are in 15th place in the league standings and in their previous outing gave away a first-half lead to lose 2-1 to Pacos de Ferreira.
Sporting have enjoyed an unbeaten run in the 2020-21 campaign so far and are second in the standings, only behind on goal difference to leaders Porto. Paulinho's second-half hat-trick ensured a 3-2 win over Portimonense in their previous league fixture.
Santa Clara vs Sporting Head-to-Head
The two clubs have squared off 12 times across all competitions. As expected, the visiting side hold the upper hand in this fixture and are yet to face defeat against their western rivals.
Leões are on a nine-game winning streak at the moment against their opponents while they have a total of 10 wins to their name and two games have ended in a stalemate.
They last squared off in a league fixture in March. The game at Estádio José Alvalade ended in a 2-1 win for the then hosts, with Sebastian Coates scoring an injury-time winner.
Santa Clara form guide (Portuguese Primeira Liga): L-W-L-W-D
Sporting form guide (all competitions): W-W-W-W-W
Santa Clara vs Sporting Team News
Santa Clara
Costinha is a confirmed absentee for the hosts on account of a ruptured Achilles tendon. Here are the rest of the absentees for Os Açoreanos -
- Luiz Phellype (Ineligibility to play against parent club)
- Rafael Ramos - Red Card suspension
- Mikel Villanueva - Red Card suspension
Ruben Oliviera is a doubt for the game.
Injury: Costinha
Doubtful: Ruben Oliveira
Suspension: Rafael Ramos, Mikel Villanueva
Unavailable: Luiz Phellype
Sporting
The reigning champions are expected to be without the services of Jovane Cabral, as he continues to recover from a knee injury. Here are the rest of the players who might not travel to the Azores for the game -
- Bruno Tabata - COVID-19
- Gonçalo Inácio - COVID-19
- Ruben Vinagre - Ankle injury
Injured: Jovane Cabral, Ruben Vinagre
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Unavailable: Bruno Tabata, Gonçalo Inácio
Santa Clara vs Sporting Predicted XI
Santa Clara Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Marco Pereira; Mansur, Kennedy Boateng, Silva Afonso, Pierre Sagna; Nené, Hidemasa Morita; Ricardo António, Lincoln, Crysan; Rui Costa
Sporting CP Predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Antonio Adan; Luis Neto, Sebastián Coates, Matheus Reis; Nuno Santos, João Palhinha, Ricardo Esgaio, Matheus Nunes; Pedro Goncalves, Pablo Sarabia; Paulinho
Santa Clara vs Sporting Prediction
Sporting have the best defensive record in the league, having conceded just seven goals in 16 games. The hosts have conceded 32 goals in the same period while finding the back of the net just 14 times in 16 games.
The reigning champions have looked solid throughout the campaign and a win for them looks like the most likely outcome here.
Prediction: Santa Clara 1-3 Sporting
