Rui Borges forced into surprise line-up change for Sporting v Porto clash | OneFootball

After the injury suffered by Hidemasa Morita during the third round match of Liga Portugal Betclic against Nacional, Rui Borges has already started thinking about how to overcome the absence of the Japanese international against Porto: Giorgi Kochorashvili will start for Sporting.

Since the Japanese midfielder began the week working with the Performance Unit of the green and whites, it is highly unlikely he will recover in time for the Clássico and, therefore, the Georgian is expected to make his first start for the Alvalade club against the Dragons.

Regarding Morita, the truth is that the length of absence for Sporting’s number 5, or even the severity of his injury, is still unknown. However, due to his history, the green and white staff do not intend to risk playing him before he is fully recovered.

Sporting and Porto will face off next Saturday, August 30. The fourth round of Liga Portugal Betclic, which marks the first Clássico of the 2025/26 season, is scheduled to kick off at 8:30 p.m. at Estádio José Alvalade. At this point, both teams have three wins from three matches played.

This season, wearing the Sporting shirt, Giorgi Kochorashvili - valued at 5 million euros - has played in four matches: all as a substitute. In the 103 minutes he has played, the ‘number 14’ of the Alvalade club has yet to score a goal or provide an assist.

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