Nacional v Sporting: Rui Borges gambles on debut starter | OneFootball

Rui Silva, Georgios Vagiannidis, Zeno Debast, Gonçalo Inácio, and Ricardo Mangas; Geny Catamo, Morten Hjulmand, Hidemasa Morita; Francisco Trincão, Pedro Gonçalves, and Luis Suárez. This is expected to be the starting eleven for Rui Borges' Sporting in the next round of the Liga Portugal Betclic.

Rui Silva remains the undisputed guardian of the green and white goal for the upcoming season, as he has been since arriving at Alvalade. The defense is not expected to change after the forced adjustments in the last match: Zeno Debast and Ricardo Mangas continue to take the places of Diomande and Maxi Araújo, who are injured. Vagiannidis is set to make his debut as a starter for Sporting and will take Iván Fresneda's place, possibly being the only change in the lineup.

In the midfield, Hidemasa Morita pairs with Morten Hjulmand. Geny Catamo is expected to occupy the right flank - despite some recent criticism of his performances -, with Pedro Gonçalves on the left half. Francisco Trincão will have the freedom to move into interior spaces, and when Sporting lines up with three central defenders, he will cover the right with the young Portuguese player.

Conrad Harder, Sporting's new 'number 9', is expected to remain on the bench. After scoring twice in the match against Casa Pia, the Colombian forward seems to have secured the starting position in the attack for the green and whites.

Sporting returns to the field next Saturday, August 23, against Nacional, in a match valid for the third round of the Liga Portugal Betclic. The clash between the lions and the islanders will take place at 18:00, at Choupana, in Madeira.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.