Sporting v Rio Ave (2025/26): TV, line-ups, kick-off and more... | OneFootball

Sporting returns to the field next Sunday, December 28th, against Rio Ave. The match, part of the 16th round of the Liga Portugal Betclic, against the team led by Sotiris Sylaidopoulos, will be played at Estádio José Alvalade, at 8:30 PM.

Currently, the green and whites occupy the second position in the National Championship standings, with 38 points. Benfica is in third place with 35 points, while Porto leads the competition with 43 points.

Rui Silva, Georgios Vagiannidis, Eduardo Quaresma, Gonçalo Inácio, and Ricardo Mangas; Morten Hjulmand and João Simões; Maxi Araújo, Francisco Trincão, Fotis Ioannidis, and Luis Suárez. This is expected to be the starting eleven presented by Rui Borges' Sporting.

The coach will field the strongest central defensive duo available to him. Regarding the flanks, the coach is forced to make changes as Iván Fresneda is suspended, but Ricardo Mangas remains a starter. Rui Silva continues to be the mainstay in goal.

In the midfield, Morten Hjulmand is expected to pair with João Simões. With several absences in the attack, Trincão is likely to be on the right, as Geny is with the national team and Quenda is injured. Also without Pote, Rui Borges is likely to opt to use Maxi on the left midfield - despite being in doubt - with Ioannidis supporting the striker, Luis Suárez.

Broadcast: SportTV 2

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