Two rival powerhouses will clash on Match Day 20 of Liga Portugal when Sporting Lisbon hosts FC Porto at the Jose Alvalade Stadium on Sunday. Seven points separate both teams at the top end of the standings, with the hosts currently placed fourth with 38 points. Meanwhile, the visitors head into this heavyweight clash in second place with 45 points. In the last Liga Portugal meeting between the rivals, Porto cruised to a 3-0 victory at home, but this time Sporting will be eager to return the favour in their territory. Below, we look at the stats of both teams from the current season to comprehend how this matchup could play out.
Overall performances this season
Sporting have won 12, drawn two, and lost five matches in Liga Portugal this season. They have gathered quite a bit of momentum of late by winning three consecutive matches, including a splendid 5-0 victory against Braga. Ruben Amorim’s side has a very strong home record. They are unbeaten at home since August and have won seven consecutive games at the Jose Alvalade Stadium. Thus far, Sporting have scored 39 goals with an xG rate of 1.78 per match. Their defence has conceded 19 goals, averaging an xGA rate of 0.95. The above viz shows the percentile rank of the team’s stats compared to other opponents in Liga Portugal. We can observe that Sporting has one of the top teams in the attacking and possession departments but has faced some deficiencies in defence.
Porto, on the other hand, have been one of the season’s most consistent and top performers. They have won 14, drawn three, and lost two matches in Liga Portugal thus far. They are on a nine-match unbeaten streak and a four-match winning streak. Sergio Conceicao’s team has done well in away fixtures, going unbeaten in their last eight travels (5W, 3D). Overall, they have scored 45 goals and conceded 11, the lowest total currently. They average 2.23 xG and 0.74 xGA per match. Looking at the viz above, we can observe that Porto’s team possesses a high percentile rank in almost all indicators in each department.
Positional play and counterattacks
The two visuals above compare both teams based on positional play and counter-attacks. The rivals are neck-and-neck in terms of the efficiency of their attacking moves. While the hosts hold the advantage for positional attacks, the visiting team has the upper hand for counterattacks. While both teams have the highest efficiency for positional attacks, the hosts have an additional advantage for counterattacks. Sporting creates 33.37 positional attacks and 1.68 counterattacks per match on average. Meanwhile, Porto creates 34.47 positional attacks per match along with 1.89 counterattacks. The Lions take 14.47 shots per match with an accuracy rate of 36.8%. Alternatively, the visitors take 16.37 shots per match and have an accuracy rate of 38.2%. Both teams are pretty efficient with the attacking moves they create.
Pressing efficiency leads to high recoveries
The two visuals above compare the teams based on pressing efficiency and recoveries. As we can see from the first visual, Porto is ranked fourth on the list with 49% pressing efficiency and a percentile rank of 68.4 for high pressing success. The hosts, on the other hand, are only one spot below the Dragons on the list, trailing by a slim margin and with a 57.8 percentile rank.
Both teams deploy a similar intensity of pressing and can recover the ball in the attacking half with a greater frequency than most other teams. Despite having a slightly lower rate of pressing efficiency, Sporting can recover the ball slightly more frequently (14 times) in the attacking half than their rival (13 times). The home team makes an average of 82.26 recoveries per match along with 33.79 interceptions, compared to Porto’s average of 86.68 recoveries and 38.42 interceptions.
Key players
Pedro Goncalves is one of the best performers for Sporting this season, with ten goals and five assists to his name from 18 matches played. He is third in the league’s goal-scoring charts and takes 2.76 shots per match with 38.5% accuracy. The 24-year-old forward will be one of Sporting’s main players to pose a significant threat to Porto’s solid backline in the match.
Meanwhile, Mehdi Taremi will pose one of the main threats from the visitor’s attack. He has been in prolific form and has the highest goal contribution in the league with 11 goals and five assists. He attempts 2.94 shots per match with 45.5% accuracy and has an xG per shot of 0.13. Sporting’s defenders will have to ensure the Iranian remains at arm’s length if they want to achieve a positive result from this tough fixture.
Team news
Sporting will be without the services of youngster Dario Essugo due to a recent muscle injury, along with long-term absentee Daniel Bracanga. Other than these two players, the home side should name a strong line-up.
Porto, on the other hand, is likely to be without key players like Otavio, Stephen Eustaquio, Marko Grujic, and Gabriel Veron because of various injury issues. The rest of the visiting team’s players should be fit and ready to play.
The stats indicate a highly competitive and exciting fixture between two rivals, Sporting Lisbon and FC Porto. The Lions will face a tough challenge at home, hoping to close the points gap with the teams ahead of them in the Champions League places. Porto, on the other hand, will be motivated to give their best performance in an extremely tough away match and consolidate their stance in the title race.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine
