Sporting host Académico de Viseu at Alvalade, seeking a return to winning form

Lineup and absences

Sporting host Académico de Viseu at Alvalade, with the match scheduled to start at 20:30 local time. The Lisbon side want to bounce back from a 2-3 defeat to LASK Linz in the Champions League. Rui Borges has named Ba, Flávio Gonçalves and Luis Guilherme in the starting eleven, while Debast and Zalazar are unavailable. The coverage is a live blog, so the result is not yet known.

Recent form

Before the LASK game, Sporting drew 1-1 with Famalicão and 2-2 with Arouca in the Liga. They then recorded consecutive wins over Sp. Braga (Liga, 1-3) and Lens (Champions League, 0-2). Académico de Viseu come into the match from a 1-0 defeat by Fátima in the third round of the Taça de Portugal. That loss ended a run of four straight league wins against Gil Vicente (0-1), V. Guimarães (2-1), Estrela da Amadora (0-2) and Estoril (2-1).

Defence and the LASK decisions

Rui Borges used Pep Guardiola as a reference point to defend his substitutions against LASK Linz, arguing that even leading coaches make changes that do not work. He said he had seen Guardiola do so.

I have seen Guardiola do that, as well as other great coaches, but these are options.

Borges admitted that Sporting expected more from the Champions League game and that the defence has been the team's "Achilles heel". The club has conceded nine of the 13 goals scored in Alvalade this season. He linked the problem to a lack of maturity at times, which leaves the side more exposed to counter-attacks.

Flávio Gonçalves and the tactical call

Flávio Gonçalves lost his place in the starting lineup and was on the bench for the last four matches, against Arouca, Sp. Braga, Lens and LASK Linz. Borges said the player "lost nothing" and that the decision was tied to strategy and the opponent. Against LASK, Altimira would drop back to make a five, and Geny would stay out wide, so two midfielders were needed to form a 5-2-3 shape. Borges said that starting the winger against Académico de Viseu could make sense.

Flávio is a creative player, and to give that balance he ended up losing out for game strategy reasons, not because of his quality.

The match kicks off at 20:30 at Alvalade, with Flávio Gonçalves back in the starting eleven.