Porto aim to extend home unbeaten run against Sporting | OneFootball

The defeat against Casa Pia, FC Porto's first in the championship, did not cause alarm at Dragão nor at Olival. Nevertheless, the message from Francesco Farioli and the players is clear: respond with conviction on Monday, in front of nearly 50,000 fans, in the classic match of the 21st round against Sporting.

The blue and white team enters the field with the relative comfort provided by the four-point advantage over their direct rival, but aware that another slip-up would dangerously bring the lions closer in the standings. Even so, the recent history statistically and theoretically favors the hosts.

To explain: FC Porto has not lost at home to Sporting for nearly a decade. In all competitions, the last victory of the green and whites at Estádio do Dragão occurred on April 30, 2016 (1-3), with Jorge Jesus at the helm and still fighting for the national title that would end up in Benfica's hands; Slimani (scored twice) and Bruno César gave the victory to the Lisbon team. Herrera reduced the deficit with a penalty, but it was another afternoon to forget in a disastrous season for the dragons, which started with Julen Lopetegui and ended with José Peseiro on the bench.

Since then, FC Porto and Sporting have faced each other 11 times at the Porto venue and the advantage is clearly blue and white: seven wins and four draws. Last season, the streak was almost broken, but Danny Namaso's goal – who has since been loaned to Auxerre – in the 90’+4′, assisted by Samu, set the score at 1-1.

In the current season, Farioli's pupils arrive at the fourth classic without having lost in the previous three. In the league, they won in Alvalade by 2-1 in the 4th round and drew 0-0 at home against Benfica (8th round). In the second encounter with the eagles, for the Portuguese Cup, they triumphed 1-0 thanks to a solitary goal by Jan Bednarek. These results reinforce the trend initiated by Francesco Farioli in 2024/25 while at Ajax: in his first year leading a title contender, he won all major matches – two against PSV Eindhoven and two against Feyenoord.

This relentless record in classics did not achieve the ultimate goal in Amsterdam, but it proved that the now FC Porto coach knows how to resolve encounters when the opponent is at the same level. In Portugal, this trend continues and will be tested by a Sporting team coming off four consecutive victories, all secured at the last minute – against PSG, Arouca, Athletic Bilbao, and Nacional.

It will be the second encounter between Farioli and Rui Borges this season, with the Italian coach trying to extend his two unbeaten streaks, aware that a Porto victory would extend the advantage to seven points over the lions. There are also two clashes between the rivals in the Portuguese Cup semi-finals, on March 3 and, very possibly, on April 22.

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