Nacional v Sporting: Rui Borges gambles on debut in line-up | OneFootball

Rui Borges is expected to make only one change in the starting eleven of the Lions for the Nacional – Sporting match, compared to the victory over Arouca.

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 lineup for Rui Borges' Sporting for the next round of the Liga Portugal Betclic.

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

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

Conrad Harder, the new 'number 9' of Sporting, 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 white team.

Sporting will return to the field next Saturday, August 23, against Nacional, in a match valid for the third round of the Liga Portugal Betclic. The duel between the Lions and the islanders will be played at 18:00, at Choupana, in Madeira.

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