Rui Borges confirms three key absences for Sporting–Porto clash: out | OneFootball

Rui Borges confirmed the absence of Maxi Araújo, Ousmane Diomande, and Hidemasa Morita in the classic match against Porto. This trio of Sporting players will not be available for the classic next Saturday, as they are injured. Additionally, the Ivory Coast coach left the central defender out of his country's squad, so the player can recover in the best way possible.

“Our injured players are all out of this game,” stated the coach of the Alvalade Club during the press conference previewing the match against Francesco Farioli's team. Before the end of the conference, the native of Mirandela also had time to talk about the possible absences of the visiting team.

“I believe Samu will play instead of De Jong. Porto has many solutions, a lot of quality, and great players capable of responding,” revealed Rui Borges, considering that the options for Porto's attack are both of great value, but betting on the Spanish player's starting position.

“De Jong offers certain characteristics, Samu offers others, but I look more at the collective. But Porto is not weakened, they gave a great response in the last game, but I think Samu will play,” concluded Rui Borges about the injuries of both teams for the first classic of the 2025/26 season.

The Sporting – Porto match is scheduled for next Saturday at 8:30 PM at Estádio José Alvalade. The game pertains to the fourth round of the Liga Portugal Betclic and pits two of the current three leaders of the competition against each other, alongside Moreirense. The match will be officiated by referee João Gonçalves.

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