Primeira Liga Jornada 4 preview: Leaders Sporting and Porto go head-to-head
If the start of the Primeira Liga season wasn’t exciting enough, we’ve only had to wait until Jornada 4 before our first big clássico. It’s first place versus second as reigning champions Sporting host a Porto team who’ve won every competitive game so far under their new manager Vítor Bruno.
Albert Carter-Phillips brings you PortuGOAL’s preview of the big clash on Saturday night and the rest of the top weekend action in Portugal’s top flight.
Sporting v Porto
This is a repeat of the game which started the season, the Supertaça which ended 4-3 to Porto after Sporting had led 3-0 after 30 minutes. That game taught us a lot about both sides. In Porto’s case, they showed us that they were ready to go toe to toe with the league champions despite losing their talismanic manager Sérgio Conceição over the summer, as well as a number of key players including Mehdi Taremi and Pepe.
Porto have gone from strength to strength since, following up their Super Cup win with three consecutive league victories, and three excellent performances. The early stages of the season have also seen the emergence of new stars in the team, such as Ivan Jaime whose technical brilliance and eye for goal have impressed many.
Porto boost squad
After a summer of instability where a worrying lack of activity in the transfer market led to pessimism amongst some Porto fans, early season performances have been very impressive. Porto have also finally started being active in the transfer market, bringing in promising young strikers Samu Omorodion from Atletico Madrid and Deniz Gül from Hammarby to replace the aforementioned Taremi, as well as Evanilson and Toni Martinez, meanwhile sold to Bournemouth and Alavez respectively. There’s also a huge boost in the form of returning academy star Fábio Vieira on loan from Arsenal, a player who will provide immediate quality in attack.
Sporting hit top form
There is therefore a great feeling of optimism around Porto at the moment, but they will need to be at the top of their game to beat a Sporting side who, since that disappointing defeat in the Supertaça, have responded in formidable fashion, also winning their first 3 league games, scoring 14 times in the process. For Sporting, after retaining both Viktor Gyökeres and Rúben Amorim over the summer, the story of their season so far has certainly been matching the incredibly high standards they set in their title winning season last year.
Letting that 3-0 lead slip against Porto a few weeks ago was a real disappointment for Sporting, and looking back perhaps they allowed an element of complacency into their game on that occasion. But they certainly seem to have used that setback to kickstart the rest of their season, blowing away every team they’ve played in the league so far, and they certainly won’t allow the same mistakes to surface when they meet Porto again on Saturday. Everything points to what should be a high-quality encounter between two teams in fine form.
Related: The Long Ball Futebol podcast - Roundup of EVERY Liga Portugal game from Jornada Three
Moreirense v Benfica
Elsewhere in the Primeira Liga Benfica travel north to play Moreirense on Friday night with both teams on 6 points from 3 games. Benfica have steadily improved after a shocking opening day defeat at the hands of Famalicão. Their 1-0 win over Estrela Amadora last weekend was comfortable, if a little unremarkable. Question marks still remain over what Roger Schmidt’s best 11 looks like, with rumours circulating over the potential departure of João Mario, a player often used by Roger Schmidt but who now seems set on moving after some rough treatment from the fans.
New striker Vangelis Pavlidis has so far only scored one goal in the league, whilst January signing Marcos Leonardo is reportedly negotiating a move to Saudi Arabia. For Benfica it’s vital to continue winning, but more important than winning is to play with a conviction that will allow Benfica fans to relax and feel confident that their team are ready for a title challenge. At the moment there are still more questions than answers over Benfica’s ability to fight for the Primeira Liga title.
Rio Ave vs Arouca
As always there’s great football to be found outside of the traditional big three clubs, and this weekend our pick for a ‘hidden gem’ is Rio Ave vs Arouca on Sunday evening. Rio Ave are building a fascinating squad thanks to new investment from Greek businessman and owner of Nottingham Forest and Olympiacos Evangelos Marinakis. The early signs are promising, although they’ve been unfortunate to have played both Sporting and Porto already this season, meaning they currently only have three points on the board.
They’ll want to get another win under their belt at home to Arouca, who themselves only managed their first win last weekend against Nacional. Arouca have had a moderate turnover of players and staff over the summer, losing a great manager in Daniel Sousa, as well as top scorer Rafa Mujica. Their early performances were poor but the win over Nacional showed some promise which they’ll hope to build on against Rio Ave.
Three Players to keep an eye on this weekend
Wanderson Galeno (Porto): Galeno, pictured left, has established himself as a key player for Porto, but under Vítor Bruno he’s taken on something of a new role in the starting 11, starting every league game so far at left-back. Starting further back hasn’t stopped him from scoring 3 goals in 3 games, and that’s certainly not at the expense of his new defensive responsibilities which he’s taken on admirably. It will be fascinating to see whether Bruno continues with Galeno at left-back despite the quality of opposition being significantly higher than that which Galeno has thus far come up against in the league.
Francisco Trincão (Sporting): It’s difficult to pick out just one player from Sporting’s excellent squad to highlight this weekend, but Francisco Trincão has been quietly impressing alongside the usual star names of Viktor Gyökeres and Pedro Gonçalves. His form has been good enough to keep Marcus Edwards on the bench for some time now, and his quality will be vital in this game whether as a goalscorer or provider.
Henrique Araújo (Arouca): It’s been a difficult few years for Henrique Araújo. The young striker so highly rated at Benfica has struggled in various loan spells away from his parent club, but hopes are high that things will be different at Arouca. Araújo scored his first league goal for the club last weekend in their 1-0 win against Nacional, was crowned Man of the Match, and given a place in the Liga Portugal team of the week. Another good performance against Rio Ave would do wonders for his confidence.