Portugal’s Taca da Liga continues this week, with Rio Ave welcoming Sporting CP to Vila do Conde on Wednesday night.
Both sides won their opening match of the competition, meaning they find themselves level on three points at the top of Group B.
'Operação Sporting' em andamento! ⏳Vem aí duelo entre os líderes do Grupo B da #AllianzCup 💥#umafamíliaumaidentidade #RAFCSCP #RAFC pic.twitter.com/eUu0YmhP8o— Rio Ave FC (@RioAve_FC) December 4, 2022
'Operação Sporting' em andamento! ⏳Vem aí duelo entre os líderes do Grupo B da #AllianzCup 💥#umafamíliaumaidentidade #RAFCSCP #RAFC pic.twitter.com/eUu0YmhP8o
The World Cup may be taking centre stage in Qatar at the moment, but this clash gives Rio Ave and Sporting the chance to enhance their domestic prospects.
Let’s start by look at the hosts, Rio Ave, who head into Wednesday’s clash on the back of a 1-0 win against Maritimo.
That was Rio Ave’s first competitive match since November 12, but they returned with a victory thanks to Aderllan Santo’s 90th-minute winner.
Following an impressive end to the first phase of the Liga Portugal season, Rio Ave come into this encounter on a run of four wins in five outings across all competitions.
That said, they find themselves tenth in the Portuguese top-flight – seven points behind fourth-place Sporting.
Meanwhile, Sporting sit 12 points behind first-place Benfica after winning seven, drawing one and losing four of their 13 league clashes.
On Taca da Liga duty, however, the Lions hammered Farense 6-0 last week – with Paulinho bagging a brace. Marcus Edwards and Pedro Goncalves were also among the scorers.
When you look at the bigger picture, Sporting have won each of their previous five Taca da Liga encounters.
They have also won each of their last three games in all competitions, having ended the first phase of the league campaign with back-to-back victories.
Head-to-head: Sporting are currently enjoying a four-game unbeaten run against Rio Ave, with clean-sheet victories coming in the past two meetings.
It is also worth noting that Rio Ave have only managed to win two of their previous 12 matches against Sporting in all competitions.
Team news: Rio Ave will be without the injured attacking duo of Joca and Andre Pereira for Wednesday’s clash.
Sporting have injury problems of their own, with Luis Neto, Chico Lamba and Daniel Braganca expected to miss the upcoming tie.
When you couple the head-to-head record between these two sides with Sporting’s 6-0 win last, all the signs point towards another victory for the Lions.
Forebet predicts that Sporting will score over 1.5 goals and keep a clean sheet on their way to dispatching Rio Ave.