Sporting CP vs Sporting Braga: Horta can hurt hosts again

Benfica's 4-1 win against Porto in Sunday's O Classico moved As Aguias to the top of the Portuguese Primeira Liga, but Lisbon rivals Sporting CP can draw back level on points and overtake their city rivals with a victory over Sporting Braga on Monday (20:45).

Below are my Sporting CP vs Sporting Braga predictions, supported by all the latest team news and match odds, ahead of this game at the Estadio Jose Alvalade.

Team News

Japanese midfielder Hidemasa Morita, who has missed Sporting's last two games with a muscle injury, has been ruled out of Monday night's game by head coach Rui Borges.

Pedro 'Pote' Goncalves misses out for the same reason, extending his absence to nearly five months, although he is expected to be back in action soon.

Football Odds

Diego Braganca, Nuno Santos (both knee) and Joao Simoes (leg) complete Sporting's list of absentees.

Roger Fernandes (thigh) has missed Braga's last three games, and the 19-year-old forward, who has scored three league goals this season, won't make the trip south.

Porto loanee Fran Navarro, who has struck four times in seven Primeira Liga appearances since joining in January, is also sidelined, so Amine El Ouazzani, without a goal in his last 11 matches, is likely to lead the line again.

Sporting CP vs Sporting Braga Odds

Sporting are unbeaten in the league since December 5 and have won their last four in the competition. The reigning champions, who beat Braga 4-2 in November's reverse fixture, are 4/11 to do the double over Os Arcebispos, implying a 73.3% probability. The visitors, meanwhile, are 7/1, or a 12.5% chance, to triumph against Leoes for the first time since January 2022 and make it four successive wins.

The draw is priced at 18/5, both teams to score at 5/6, and over 2.5 total goals 8/13.

Sporting striker Viktor Gyokeres, who has scored 14 more goals than nearest challenger, Porto 20-year-old Samu Aghehowa (16), heads the anytime and first goalscorer market at 8/13 and 9/4, respectively, with El Ouazzani (16/5) considered most likely to net anytime for Braga.

Match Result & Both Teams To Score - Sporting CP & Yes @ 2/1

Sporting have only conceded 23 times in 27 league games this season but went seven matches without a clean sheet in the league before shutting out relegation-threatened Estrela, who went down to 10 men in the 34th minute and nine in the 87th minute of last weekend's 3-0 win.

Braga, meanwhile, have scored the fourth-most goals (44) in the 2024/25 Primeira Liga and have scored in their previous five games, blanking just once in their last 22.

Monday's hosts are sixth in the Primeira Liga BTTS table with 52% (14) of their contests seeing at least one goal on either side, while Braga are joint-10th (44%).

BTTS - Yes has been a winning selection in Sporting's last four home games and two of Braga's last four on their travels, and at the Estadio Municipal in December, six goals were scored - four in favour of the visitors and two for the hosts.

Braga should be able to get on the scoresheet in Lisbon, but taking any points back to base might be beyond them. After Benfica's win against Porto, the pressure is back on Sporting, and they know they probably need to win their next five games to ensure they are in the lead before April 10's Derby de Lisboa, which is their penultimate fixture of the season.

Monday's opponents represent a step up in class from last month's challengers, but in their current form and with so much on the line, I'm backing Sporting to win again.

Anytime Goalscorer - Ricardo Horta (BRA) @ 4/1

Gyokeres is the obvious choice in the anytime goalscorer market, but the real value lies with the visitors, and as I'm already backing Braga to score, it makes sense to try and pick out one of their players to net on Monday.

El Ouazzani heads the anytime market for Braga, but it's been nearly three months since his last Primeira Liga goal, and he's only scored six in 27 appearances since joining last summer from French side Guingamp.

Instead, I'm tipping nine-goal forward Ricardo Horta, who has struck twice in his last three games, to get on the scoresheet for Carlos Carvahal's charges.

Horta scored the only goal of the game in his side's 1-0 win over Porto on March 8 and was first on target again last weekend as Braga beat Arouca 2-1.

The 30-year-old is Os Arcebispos' leading marksman this season, scoring three more than nearest teammate El Ouazzani, and two of his nine strikes came in December's reverse meeting with Sporting as he put Braga two ahead before the interval, only for the visitors to stage a second-half comeback.

Offers

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