Santa Clara v Sporting

It has been one year and two months since Santa Clara played European football for the first time in the club’s 95-year history, with the Azorean side beating Shkupi and Olimpija Ljubljana before losing to Partizan Belgrade in the Europa Conference League qualifiers, and eventually finishing 7th in the league table, one position lower than their placement in 2020/21. Today, they find themselves 16th – the relegation play-off spot – with 5 points from their first 8 matches, three above Paços de Ferreira and five above Marítimo. The summer of 2022 would see Santa Clara sell two of their biggest creative outlets with Japanese central midfielder Hidemasa Morita joining Sporting and Brazilian attacking midfielder Lincoln moving to Fenerbahçe, whilst defensive pillar Mikel Villanueva joined Vitória de Guimarães on a free transfer.

Mário Silva became Santa Clara’s fourth manager of the 2021/22 season on January 10 and managed to lead them out of the relegation zone, but he could become the third manager of the 2022/23 season to be sacked if he can’t find an answer to the team’s ongoing struggles. After beginning the campaign with a 0-0 draw to Casa Pia, Santa Clara would lose to Boavista, Arouca, Famalicão before defeating bottom dwellers Marítimo 2-1, losing 1-0 to Vitória and drawing Paços 1-1, whilst they began October with a 1-0 loss to Rio Ave that would see Emmanuel Boateng open the scoring after a quarter-hour and Santa Clara’s center back Kennedy Boateng (no relation) receive a sending-off in the second half, and they face a daunting task on Saturday as they welcome Rúben Amorim’s Sporting to the Estádio de São Miguel.

After closing out September with a comfortable 3-1 win against Gil Vicente that would see Morita pick up a goal and an assist within 22 minutes, Sporting were aiming to pick up their third Champions League victory in as many games and looked set to do it as Francisco Trincão opened the scoring within a minute, only for a hat-trick of schoolboy errors from Spanish goalkeeper Antonio Adán to shoot them in the foot. Marseille would capitalize on the mistakes and go up 2-1 after 16 minutes, whilst Adán would receive a direct red for handling the ball outside his box in the 23rd minute, with the hosts adding a third goal shortly after and picking up a 4-1 win in front of an empty Vélodrome. Having beaten Tottenham and Eintracht in their first two games, Sporting had fell to a humiliating defeat, a defeat that only one man was responsible for.

If there is any silver lining from the loss in Marseille, it’s that, when 22-year-old goalkeeper Franco Israel came on for his first-ever senior appearance at any club, he replaced Marcus Edwards. The Englishman has emerged as a vital cog in Sporting’s attack this season following Pablo Sarabia’s loan return to Paris Saint-Germain, with Edwards impressing in a false 9 role alongside Francisco Trincão and Pedro Gonçalves, a front three that has no fixed reference point in attack, but rather, a constantly interchanging combination between the attackers. It is a tricky proposition that has caused headaches for quite a few defenses, and with Boateng unavailable, Santa Clara will have a tough time keeping the Lions’ attack at bay. Sporting, on the other hand, will be counting on Sebastián Coates’ return to full fitness as the Uruguayan captain prepares to start in the middle of the back three and lead Sporting to a sixth clean sheet of the season against a Santa Clara side that has scored just five times this season.

Santa Clara opened 2022 with a 3-2 win against Sporting, with Lincoln equalizing in the 51st minute and setting up Ricardinho’s 78th-minute winner to complete one of the biggest upsets of the campaign. That match is now a distant memory, and so too is the Brazilian magician and the Japanese maestro that engineered their comeback victory in the Azores. Apart from that defeat, Sporting have won each of their last eight matches against Santa Clara by a combined scoreline of 18 to 4, and they have more than enough firepower to bounce back from their Marseille defeat with a victory in Ponta Delgada. I’m expecting Sporting to get a much-needed victory and confidence booster ahead of their midweek visit from Marseille, and I’m expecting Edwards, Pote and Trincão to wreak havoc against the Azoreans’ beleaguered defense.

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Benfica v Rio Ave

Only seven teams in Europe’s top six leagues are yet to lose a single match in all competitions: Manchester City, Real Madrid, Napoli, Atalanta, Paris Saint-Germain, Lens and Benfica. Benfica entered October as one of the only two teams to have won each of their matches so far alongside Real Madrid – both sides would suffer draws at the weekend with the Lisbon club taking a 0-0 draw against Vitória in Guimarães before following it up with a 1-1 draw at home against PSG. They find themselves level with PSG atop their Champions League group after picking up 7 points from 3 games, whilst they sit three points above Braga and Porto atop the Primeira Liga table. A win against Rio Ave on Saturday would see them remain at least three points clear in first place ahead of their trip to the Dragão on October 21, and they can ill afford another a slip-up after being held to their first clean sheet of the season against Vitória.

After finishing third in the second tier, Rio Ave began their top-flight campaign with defeats to Vizela and Sporting, a 2-2 draw to Estoril Praia, and a 3-1 win against Porto, before drawing 1-1 to Chaves, losing 3-2 to Braga, drawing 2-2 to Gil Vicente and beating Santa Clara 1-0 at the weekend. Luís Freire’s side find themselves 10th in the table, level on 9 points with Arouca, Gil Vicente and fellow promoted side Chaves, and they have emerged as one of the most efficient sides in the Primeira. Despite having just two actions in the opposing box to Santa Clara’s 15, and despite having one corner kick to Santa Clara’s 8, Rio Ave came away with a victory thanks to a corner-kick goal from Emmanuel Boateng in the 15th minute to pick up their second win and first clean sheeet of the season. No team in Europe’s major leagues is outperforming their expected goals at a higher rate than Rio Ave with an overperformance of 236% – they have scored 11 goals from an xG of 4.7. They have also conceded 13 goals, and against an attack featuring Gonçalo Ramos, David Neres, João Mário and Rafa Silva, I’m expecting that number to go up significantly as they travel to the Estádio da Luz.

Roger Schmidt may be tempted to do something he has rarely done this season and rotate his squad ahead of their midweek trip to the Parc de Princes, with his compatriot Julian Draxler possibly making his way into the attacking quartet, but he’ll nevertheless be under no illusions of the vital importance of getting three points ahead of his first Clássico as Benfica manager. They have been nearly flawless this campaign, and with Florentino Luís and Enzo Fernández developing a superb chemistry in the double pivot and teenager António Silva slotting into defense alongside Nicolás Otamendi, they have a defensive solidity and a midfield balance and an incisiveness in possession that has been sorely missed in Lisbon in recent years. Benfica have won each of their last nine fixtures against Rio Ave by a combined scoreline of 26 to 9, and they should have enough in the tank to make it nine straight wins against the Vilacondenses with a comfortable margin of at least two goals.

Porto v Portimonense

The most lopsided match of the 2021/22 season came on April 16 as Porto trounced Portimonense 7-0 at the Estádio do Dragão, a scoreline that was only matched on November 27 as Benfica annihilated a COVID-ridden B-SAD who were forced to start the game with 9 men and abandoned the match after halftime. Apart from the 7-0 result, one thing that these two matches had in common was that, upon reading the two team’s line-ups, you immediately knew that both B-SAD and Portimonense were in for a long day. Portimonense manager Paulo Sérgio fielded a heavily rotated starting line-up, with goalkeeper Payam Niazmand (zero league minutes prior to the match), Achraf Lazaar (4 minutes), Sana Dafa Gomes (178 minutes) and Julien Da Costa (175 minutes) all being included in the eleven for their trip to the Dragão. Mehdi Taremi would open the scoring within 19 minutes, Marko Grujić doubled the lead shortly after, with goals from Taremi and Evanilson giving them a 4-0 lead going into the break, the Iranian striker completing his hat-trick in the 47th minute and Evanilson and Pepe adding to the misery for Portimonense.

Whilst Porto were on their way to a second domestic double in three years, Portimonense had been one of the worst performing teams since the start of the year and were in danger of falling into a relegation fight. Various starters were suspended for Portimonense such as Shoya Nakajima, Lucas Possignolo and Wélinton – the latter of which scored the prior week to give the Algarvian side their first win of 2022 – whilst others were in danger of picking up a suspension for the following match if they were to be booked. As such, Sérgio elected to rest every player who was at risk of a suspension, giving up any chance of picking up a point against Porto and putting all his eggs in one basket – the following match. In the end, he was proven right – Wélinton opened the scoring within 14 minutes to snatch a 1-0 win against Moreirense, who were relegated at the end of the campaign, and secure Portimonense’s status in the Portuguese top-flight.

Despite selling Samuel Portugal to Porto on deadline day, Portimonense have emerged an early challenger for European football in the 2022/23 season’s opening weeks and sit fifth in the Primeira Liga table, four points behind Porto and Braga and seven points off league leaders Benfica. Apart from a 1-0 defeat to Boavista on August 7, a 4-0 defeat to Sporting on September 10, and a 1-0 defeat to Vizela at the weekend, Portimonense have won each of their five fixtures this season, but they have a tall task ahead of them as they welcome Sérgio Conceição’s Dragons to the Algarve.

Since ending a 21-year top-flight absence and returning to the Primeira in 2010/11, Portimonense’s record against Porto has been as lopsided as their most recent match against the defending champions. Porto have won each of their last 13 fixtures against Portimonense by a combined scoreline of 44 to 10, and I’m expecting a similar result on Saturday in Portimão. After handing Braga their first defeat of the season with a 4-1 shellacking at the Dragão, Porto picked up a 2-0 victory against Bayer Leverkusen thanks to goals from substitutes Zaidu Sanusi and Wenderson Galeno to secure a much-needed three points after losing their first two Champions League matches to Atlético Madrid and Club Brugge. They’ll be looking to build on that momentum and take care of business against Portimonense ahead of a midweek trip to Germany, and with Mehdi Taremi, Evanilson and Pepê forming an increasingly lethal trident in attack and Stephen Eustàquio emerging as an increasingly important box-to-box midfielder in the wake of Vitinha’s move to Paris Saint-Germain, it seems as though Conceição has finally found the right balance following a summer filled with major departures such as Fábio Vieira, Chancel Mbemba and Vitinha.

There are no guarantees in football, but Porto getting a win against Portimonense is just about as close as you can get – expect a Porto victory and plenty of goals in Portimão.

Boavista v Maritimo

Marítimo are making history this season, and not for the right reasons. They have become the first team since Torreense in 1964/65 to lose their first eight matches of a Portuguese top-flight campaign, and their record of 22 goals conceded after 7 matchdays was the highest tally of any Primeira side since Salgueiras in 1984/85. Marítimo would achieve promotion that same year and have remained in the top-flight since, but they find themselves mired in a relegation battle with 0 points, the only team in Europe’s top 10 leagues who have lost every single match that they have played in this season.

Despite sacking manager Vasco Seabra after five matches, storm clouds continue to encapsulate the Madeira side with João Henriques unable to stop the bleeding so far. Seabra took charge of the club last November and led Marítimo out of a relegation fight with the club eventually finishing 10th, but the loss of various key players like Reims loanee Rafik Guitane and Iranian striker Ali Alipour would see Marítimo struggle to convince in the opening weeks with Seabra becoming the first manager in the Primeira campaign to receive his marching orders. Henriques had replaced Seabra as Moreirense manager in the summer of 2021 following an eighth-placed finish, but a dismal start to the campaign would see him sacked after 15 matches with Moreirense eventually going down to the second tier, and he is in danger of facing the same exact fate if he is unable to stabilize the ship at Marítimo.

For the fourth time this season, Marítimo would open the scoring only to lose 2-1 at the weekend, with Bruno Xadas breaking the deadlock after 11 minutes and Clayton equalizing for Casa Pia shortly after. Marítimo would receive a penalty before the break as Nermin Zolotić elbowed Léo’s face whilst jumping to defend a corner, with Zolotić picking up a second yellow, but Ricardo Batista saved Xadas’ effort to keep the score level. Marítimo were unable to make the most of their advantage and found themselves reduced to 10 men as Vítor Costa received a direct red and conceded a penalty with Leonardo Lelo scoring in the 70th minute and Casa Pia holding on for a 2-1 win. After 8 matchdays, Marítimo have scored 5 goals and conceded 24, and their next match will see them travel to the Estádio de Bessa and take on Boavista.

Similarly to Marítimo, Boavista found themselves in trouble early on last season only for the appointment of Petit in November to turn around their fortunes, with the Axadrezados finishing 12th, level on 38 points with Marítimo, Portimonense and Paços de Ferreira. Despite losing various key players like Petar Musa, Jackson Porozo, Nathan and Yanis Hamache, they have merely gone up another level under Petit and are currently sitting 6th in the table with 15 points. After beginning the season with back-to-back wins against Portimonense and Santa Clara, Boavista lost to Casa Pia and Benfica before bouncing back with victories against Paços de Ferreira, Arouca and Sporting, and beginning October with a 4-0 defeat to Famalicão, a Fama side that was perhaps served by a new managerial bounce with the appointment of ex Boavista coach João Pedro Sousa.

They have a chance to get back to winning ways and pick up their sixth victory of the season against a Marítimo side that continues to sink further and further into the relegation zone, and I’m expecting Boavista to compound their woes with a win in Porto. Kenji Gorré has emerged as one of the league’s most dangerous wingers for Boavista and I’m expecting him to torch Marítimo’s defense – a defense that will be without one of their biggest leaders in Vítor Costa — whilst the threat of Bruno Lourenço and Róbert Boženík in the final third and Gaius Makouta and Sebastian Pérez’ increased chemistry in the midfield double pivot could see Marítimo outmanned and outplayed. In a match between one of the most organized and efficient teams in the league and a team that is devoid of any reliable goalscorer or any semblance of defensive balance, I’m expecting Boavista to come away with a win at the Bessa.

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