A bumper crowd is expected at the Alvalade on Saturday night as Sporting attempt to beat Nacional da Madeira to stay in touch with joint Liga ZON Sagres leaders, FC Porto and Benfica.
Fourteen wins in the Lisbon club’s last sixteen games, an exhilarating brand of football, and a handful of exciting talents emerging has fuelled a wave of optimism not seen at the club for several seasons.
Aided by reduced prices for the game, close to 50,000 supporters are expected to be in attendance.
One of Sporting’s star performers this season, Dutch midfielder Stijn Schaars, is suspended for the game. Along with injuries to fellow midfielders Izmailov, Rinaudo and Matias Fernandez, the door again opens for André Martins.
The pint-sized 21-year-old has looked a sensational talent in the few opportunities afforded to him so far, and another strong performance will give coach Domingos Paciência plenty to think about when his more seasoned players return to action.
Sporting were somewhat unlucky to lose by a single goal in their last Liga outing at city rivals Benfica, but quickly recovered with successive wins in the Europa League and Portuguese Cup. The Lions will be keen on clocking up another three points to stay in the running for a title challenge.
Nacional have had a disappointing season and are languishing in the lower reaches of the table, although a recent upturn in fortunes has seen the Madeira club lose just two of their last eight games.
“Nacional have changed coach recently and Sporting will have to take some precautions, because they know how we play at home. They will be looking to take advantage of any mistake we make to score, because they have very fast players up front,” said Sporting coach Domingos.
Kick off at the Alvalade stadium at 8.30pm local time on Saturday.
Aided by reduced prices for the game, close to 50,000 supporters are expected to be in attendance.
One of Sporting’s star performers this season, Dutch midfielder Stijn Schaars, is suspended for the game. Along with injuries to fellow midfielders Izmailov, Rinaudo and Matias Fernandez, the door again opens for André Martins.
The pint-sized 21-year-old has looked a sensational talent in the few opportunities afforded to him so far, and another strong performance will give coach Domingos Paciência plenty to think about when his more seasoned players return to action.
Sporting were somewhat unlucky to lose by a single goal in their last Liga outing at city rivals Benfica, but quickly recovered with successive wins in the Europa League and Portuguese Cup. The Lions will be keen on clocking up another three points to stay in the running for a title challenge.
Nacional have had a disappointing season and are languishing in the lower reaches of the table, although a recent upturn in fortunes has seen the Madeira club lose just two of their last eight games.
“Nacional have changed coach recently and Sporting will have to take some precautions, because they know how we play at home. They will be looking to take advantage of any mistake we make to score, because they have very fast players up front,” said Sporting coach Domingos.
Kick off at the Alvalade stadium at 8.30pm local time on Saturday.
