Sporting can keep up fine home record against Porto

Taca de Portugal
8.30pm Thursday

Porto breached one Lisbon fortress on Sunday when they won 1-0 at Benfica to go top of the Primeira Liga but they are set to be second best when they return to the capital to take on Sporting in the Taca de Portugal semis.

That win at the Estadio da Luz will have taken plenty out of Sergio Conceicao’s men, who have a 1-0 lead to protect.

Ten weeks after the first leg in Porto much has changed with both these two making European exits - Porto fell to Liverpool in the Champions League while Sporting were seen off by Atletico Madrid in the Europa League.

Sporting boss Jorge Jesus will have been buoyed, however, by winning the home leg of their European tie against Atletico last week, and they are incredibly strong on their own patch.

Porto haven’t won at the Estadio Jose Alvalade since 2008 while Sporting are unbeaten in their last 20 at home, 14 of which have been wins to nil.

There was nothing between these sides when they met in the Taca da Liga final in January, a 0-0 draw which preceded a shootout success for the Lions.

And the goals have dried up in Porto’s games since they beat Sporting 2-1 in the league last month. Porto’s subsequent six matches have produced just eight goals. It’s 10-11 that at least one team fails to score.

Sporting have a defensive tweak to make with Andre Pinto set to join Jeremy Mathieu on the sidelines but they should still be confident that they can, at the very least, level the tie overall.

Recommendation
Sporting
1pt 9-5 bet365

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