Sporting Lisbon hosts their favorite opponents Nacional for matchday 19 in their Primera Liga campaign at Estadio Jose Alvalade on Saturday night.
The Lions begin the weekend following their 2-1 Champions League loss to RB Leipzig while resting only three days after securing a Gran Parque Central victory against AVS.
A Yussuf Poulsen goal followed Viktor Gyokeres' successful shot past Willi Orban during the 75th minute gave Sporting a brief chance to pull level after going behind to Benjamin Sesko's 19th-minute opener against RB Leipzig before Sporting suffered their third straight defeat.
The banner departure of manager Ruben Amorim created a massive organizational gap that Joao Pereira struggled to fill despite his initial success with a Taca de Portugal triumph against fourth-tier Amarante (6-0 victory) which was subsequently followed by four defeats.
The club dismissed Pereira as head coach on December 25 after three wins and one draw and four defeats from his eight games in charge to introduce Rui Borges the following day.
Since taking charge Borges has led Sporting to three wins and two draws and oneLeague Cup penalty loss as well as a regulation-time defeat at hands of Leipzig during his six matches in command.
The team kept their first-place position with 44 points thanks to their 1-0 Benfica victory along with matches that ended 4-4 versus Vitoria Guimaraes and 3-0 versus Rio Ave.
Rio Ave had been undefeated in their last three games, drawing one and winning two. On January 12, they defeated Casa Pia 3-1 at the Estadio Pina Manique, securing their place in the Taca de Portugal quarterfinals.
With eight losses and five victories and five draws in their 18 Primeira Liga games so far this season, Petit's team is now tied for 12th position in the standings with 11th-place Famalicao.
As they take on a team that they have defeated seven times in their last eight meetings, winning five and drawing two since October 2020, Rio Ave will be rooting for a comeback this weekend.
After shocking Porto with a 2-0 victory, the visitors secured back-to-back victories for the first time this season with a 3-1 victory over AVS.
Prior to that, the Tricolor had only three victories in 15 league games and around the same number in 12.
After a remarkable comeback, Nacional is now in 13th place with 19 points from 18 games, which includes five victories, four draws, and nine losses.
Despite having the second-worst away record in the division, Bolso has had a difficult time traveling in the top flight, failing to win any of their nine meetings and only managing three draws and six losses.
