Sporting v Benfica preview: can the Lions blow open the title race?

Sporting v Benfica preview: can the Lions blow open the title race?

Sporting host city rivals Benfica on Sunday knowing a victory is the only result that will keep alive what club president Bruno de Carvalho stated is one of the club's chief aims this season - to win the 2014/15 Portuguese Primeira Liga. Going into the match on the back of six straight Liga wins, the Lions will be confident. 

Not that reigning champions Benfica, sitting pretty at the top of the table with a six-point lead over second-placed Porto and seven points ahead of their near neighbours, are in bad shape themselves.

The Eagles have dropped only 8 points all season and victory at the Alvalade would not only all but end Sporting's chances of claiming top spot in May; it would be a huge step towards clinching a second successive title for the first time in 30 years. PortuGOAL previews Sunday's eagerly awaited derby. 

  

History

The two clubs have met 80 times in the Liga at Sporting's ground, and the green and whites have not exactly made home advantage count. Honours are almost even, with Sporting winning 32 times compared to Benfica's 30, and 18 draws. 

Moreover, since Jorge Jesus became Benfica coach ahead of the 2009/10 season the outspoken manager has endowed his side with complete domination in the fixture. In fourteen meetings home and away in all competitions Sporting have only won one. The corresponding fixture last season ended Sporting 1-1 Benfica, as did the first match this season at the Estádio da Luz. 

 

Form guide

Both teams are in good shape, but looking only at the most recent form, Sporting have the slight upper hand. Disregarding the Taça da Liga, where Sporting fielded a side made up of B-team and youth players, the Lions are on an impressive winning run. The so-called crisis over Christmas seems to have galvanised the club, with Marco Silva's men reeling off 6 consecutive triumphs, scoring 13 goals and conceding just three in the process. 

Benfica had been on an even more impressive sequence, clocking up 10 straight wins in the Liga before the run was recently ended with an unexpected loss at Paços de Ferreira. The Eagles bounced back by easily seeing off Boavista 3-0 last weekend. Despite Jorge Jesus's (justified) reputation for building exciting attacking sides, it is the defence that has really shone this season. In the last 12 games in the Liga Benfica have conceded a measly two goals. 

 

Injury news

Benfica goalkeeper Júlio César, who has undoubtedly made a huge contribution to the aforementioned almost impregnable Benfica defence, is out of the match having pulled a thigh muscle in last week's win over Boavista. Benfiquistas are also sweating on the fitness of midfield maestro Nico Gaitán. The supremely talented Argentine has not played for three weeks with a muscle strain and is rated as highly doubtful for the weekend, with coach Jorge Jesus admitting yesterday: "I have no idea if I can count on Nico or not for this match." Long-term injury victims Rúben Amorim, Fejsa and André Almeida are also unavailable. 

Sporting only have one worry on the injury front - but it's an important one. Strapping striker Islam Slimani is back from international duty following Algeria's exit from the African Cup of Nations, but the big number nine came back with a thigh injury and faces a late fitness test. 

 

Sporting strong points / weak points / key player

Sporting's recent good form has been built around a well-balanced and cohesive team. The introduction of young centre-back Tobias Figueiredo at centre-back has settled the defence, but it is in the middle of the park and on the wings that the Lions are strongest. Many believe the midfield trio of William Carvalho, Adrien and João Mário could be the Seleção's starting midfield in the not-too-distant future, while Nani and Carrillo can terrorise any defence on their day. Indeed, given their penchant for frequently swapping flanks, both will try to profit from Eliseu's suspect defending. 

On the downside, should Slimani fail to shake off his injury, Benfica's defence will surely be more comfortable squaring off against Fredy Montero and/or Tanaka. The Colombian and the Japanese strikers have been among the goals recently, but both are somewhat lightweight and may find it difficult making headway against Luisão and Jardel. Another concern of Sporting's will be the relative inexperience of the team and the coach when it comes to crunch games. If the hosts line up as expected (see below) the average age of Sporting's team will be just 24 years old. 

André Carrillo is enjoying the season of his life. The extravagantly talented Peruvian has added consistency to his game clocking up 7 goals and 9 assists in 2014/15, and even achieving the considerable feat of outshining Nani on occasion. The ultimate test that he has truly come of age will be to do it in a big match. On Sunday he has his chance. 

 

Benfica / strong points / weak points / key player

It is strange to be talking about a Jorge Jesus's Benfica and to be extolling the virtues of the... defence. Yet it is Benfica's defensive solidity that stands out more than the usual attacking verve one comes to expect from JJ's teams, and it is the way all eleven players defend as a unit that has made it so difficult to break them down. Indeed, perhaps more than any other Benfica team under their current coach, this side is more about unity and hard graft, rather than finesse and individual brilliance. The honest toil of Jardel instead of the grace of Garay, the effectively mechanical Talisca instead of the leopard-like explosiveness of Markovic, and the hard running of Lima is partnered by the wily Jonas rather than the lightning Rodrigo. Benfica may not be the breakneck easy-on-the-eye well-oiled attacking machine of the last half dozen years... but they remain a well-oiled machine. 

Curiously, what has traditionally been Benfica's strongest position, central midfield (think Javi Garcia, Axel Witsel, Matic, Enzo Pérez), is arguably now a weak point, with Samaris and Talisca, although improving, still learning the ropes and prone to picking up cards. A lack of discipline could prove costly in what is likely to be a match played in a fiery atmosphere. And once again Jorge Jesus's consistent habit of failing to find a reliable left-back solution has come to the fore, with Eliseu's lapses directly responsible for several of the few goals Benfica have conceded this campaign. 

Talismanic captain Luisão usually enjoys this fixture (provided Liedson isn't around), and should the beanpole Brazilian marshal his defence with his usual authority and Benfica hold firm early on, it may well prove difficult for a young Sporting team to keep its nerve as the clock runs down, knowing that a draw suits the visitors far more than the hosts. 

 

Probable starting line-ups

Sporting: Rui Patrício, Cédric, Tobias Figueiredo, Paulo Oliveira, Jefferson, William Carvalho, Adrien, João Mário, Carrillo, Montero, Nani

Benfica: Artur, Maxi Pereira, Luisão, Jardel, Eliseu, Samaris, Talisca, Olá John, Sálvio, Jonas, Lima

Kick-off at 8pm, Sunday. May the action begin!  

by Tom Kundert