Preview: Sporting Lisbon vs. Braga - prediction, team news, lineups

The pick of the gameweek 21 matches in the Primeira Liga will see Sporting Lisbon taking on Braga at Estadio Jose Alvalade on Sunday evening.

The hosts are currently in second place in the league standings with 49 points after 19 matches, while the visitors are in fourth place, nine points behind their opponents, though they have played one game more.

Match preview

Sporting saw the lead in the league standings switch hands last week after their match against Famalicao was postponed due to a lack of security at Estadio Municipal de Famalicao.

The Lions returned to action in midweek with a straightforward 3-0 win over lower league outfit Uniao de Leiria, which booked their spot in the final four of the Taca de Portugal, where they will face arch-rivals Benfica.

In their last league outing, Ruben Amorim's side smashed eight goals past Casa Pia without response in a lopsided encounter at this venue, marking their sixth consecutive league victory dating back to a 3-2 loss against Vitoria de Guimaraes at the start of December.

At home, Sporting have been flawless this season, winning each of their 10 league games at Estadio Jose Alvalade while only failing to score two or more goals in one match during that time.

When these sides met back in the reverse fixture back in September, they played to a 1-1 draw, which extended Sporting's unbeaten run against this opponent to three matches, including two wins and a draw.

Meanwhile, Braga will come into Sunday's clash with solid momentum, stemming from having already secured their first piece of silverware for the season, beating Estoril Praia 5-4 on penalties in the Taca da Liga at the end of last month.

Since then, the Arsenalists played out a 1-1 draw against Chaves and beat Moreirense 1-0 last weekend, taking their unbeaten record to five matches across all competitions, while their only league defeats in their last ten games came against Porto and Braga.

Over the course of the season, Artur Jorge's side has taken a total of 22 points from a possible 30 in away matches, posting a record of seven wins, one draw and just two losses in ten matches on the road.

Braga have leveraged their formidable attack to carry them to victory for most of the season, but they now come up against the side with the out-and-out best goal-scoring record, including 21 goals in just their last six home games.

Sporting Lisbon Primeira Liga form:

• W
• W
• W
• W
• W
• W

Sporting Lisbon form (all competitions):

• W
• W
• W
• L
• W
• W

Braga Primeira Liga form:

• W
• D
• L
• W
• D
• W

Braga form (all competitions):

• L
• W
• W
• W
• D
• W

Team News

Sporting will have to make do without the services of Ivan Fresneda (shoulder) and Jerry St Juste (foot) due to injury for this match, while Paulinho is flagged as a doubt owing to a knock.

Hidemasa Morita returned to the squad following his stint at the Asian Cup with Japan and could feature here, while Ousmane Diomande will be playing in the Africa Cup of Nations final for the Ivory Coast later in the day.

Congo DR international Simon Banza will not be available for Braga this weekend as he is yet to return from the AFCON, while Mali defender Sikou Niakate has been back for a couple of weeks and could make the starting lineup.

In terms of injuries, Bruma and Adrian Marin are both out of contention with knee injuries, which will likely see Alvaro Djalo, Ricardo Horta and Vitor Carvalho make up the attacking midfield trio.

Sporting Lisbon possible starting lineup:
Adan; Quaresma, Coates, Inacio; Esgaio, Hjulmand, Pote, Santos, Trincao, Edwards; Gyokeres

Braga possible starting lineup:
Lima; Gomez, Fonte, Oliveira, Borja; Moutinho, Zalazar; Carvalho, Horta, Djalo; Ruiz

We say: Sporting Lisbon 2-1 Braga

While Braga have been impressive this season, Sporting have been a different beast at Estadio Jose Alvalade, and a perfect record of 10 wins in 10 and averaging over three goals per 90 are difficult records to overlook. We are expecting a high-quality encounter in this one but fancy the hosts to claim the points.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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