The 2021-22 Primeira Liga season kicked off with a bang last week, and the Big Three will try ti add one more win to their start of the campaign to get things moving.
For this week, Sporting and Porto will have it a bit more complicated, since they will have to search for their second win away from home. Meanwhile, Benfica will be facing a recently promoted side for the second week in a row. Tondela, the surprising co-leader of the competition, will also make a trip away from home searching for a second win in this campaign, this time against Vizela.
Here are some of the details you need to know prior to the start of the weekend.
Primeira Liga standings after Matchday 1
As mentioned earlier, Tondela and Sporting both claimed three-nil victories in their opening games, giving them an edge over their rivals. Surprisingly, there were no draws last week, which may give us an idea on how the teams currently in the lower half of the table will want to bounce back.
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Top games to watch
Benfica vs Arouca - The Eagles prevailed in their first game of the season despite playing a good portion of the game with only ten men on the pitch. Now, Jorge Jesús' men will play their first home game in a while when they host Arouca. Jesús' coaching skills will be put to a test due to the number of absences they will have for this game, starting with striker Haris Seferovic, who may be unavailable for quite a few weeks.
Braga vs Sporting CP - The defending champions take on Braga once again this season, following their 2-1 triumph in the Supertaça de Portugal. This time, the hosts will have to deal with some absences, contrary to the Lions, who will only have one injury absentee for this game. Sporting have only been able to win two of their last six games at the Estadio Municipal de Braga, and it will be quite a test for them to take all the points home so early in the season.
Famalicao vs Porto - The Dragons claimed a two-nil win in their first game of the season, and they will try to follow suit when they make the trip to face Famalicao, one of the nine Primeira Liga teams that lost last week. Sergio Conceicao's men will now look to claim one more win without one of their key man last year: Jesús Corona, who is set to complete a move to Sevilla in the coming days.
Primeira Liga - Who's in and who's out for Matchday 2
Benfica - Injured: André Almeida, Haris Seferovic, Rodrigo Pinho, Jan Vertonghen. Suspended: Diogo Gonçalves.
Porto - Injured: Marko Grujic. Doubtful: Jesús Corona.
Sporting - Injured: Nuno Mendes.
