Nacional and Sporting Lisboa meet at Estádio da Madeira, in a match for the 13th round of the Primeira Liga. In this stadium, the history of direct confrontations is favorable to the visiting team, which registers 2 wins and 1 draw in the last 3 matches. In fact, the last time these two teams played a match at this stadium was on 19‑04‑2019, for the Primeira Liga, which ended with the victory of Sporting Lisboa by (0‑1). In this match the home factor may be decisive, since Nacional presents considerable differences in its results at home and as a visitor.
National :
The home team is currently in 10th position, with 13 points won, after 3 wins, 4 draws and 4 losses. In the penultimate match, they lost away to Porto by (2‑0). In the last match, they won at home against Tondela by (2‑0). This is a stronger team with the support of its fans, since in the last 30 games it has recorded 4 wins, 6 draws and 5 losses as a visitor; against 9 wins, 5 draws and 1 loss in his stadium. For the championship, Nacional won 9 points out of a possible 18, after 2 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss in the last 6 games they played in their stadium. In 11 matches in the competition, he conceded the first goal 6 times and only managed 1 comeback. In the last 12 home matches for all competitions there is 1 period that stands out: they have conceded 4 of their 11 goals between minutes (31′ ‑ 45 ‘).
Nacional da Madeira is running a relatively balanced campaign in this return to the Portuguese football elite. At the beginning of the thirteenth day of the LIGA NOS, the team led by coach Luís Freire adds 13 points, the same as Moreirense and Gil Vicente, and currently occupies the ninth position in the classification table, just one point from Santa Clara and Marítimo, who despite having a more disputed match. This is because, last weekend, his home game with Vitória de Guimarães was postponed. Thus, the last time he entered the field was a week and a half ago, in a game in which Nacional beat Tondela 2×0, for the championship, after the triumph against Leixões (3×1) for the Portuguese Cup.
Sporting :
The visiting team is currently in 1st position, with 32 points won, after 10 victories and 2 draws. In the penultimate match, they won away against Belenenses by (1‑2). In the last match, they won at home against Sporting Braga by (2‑0). This is a team that presents similar results at home and away, so it is not usually affected by the home factor, since in the last 30 games it has recorded 8 wins, 3 draws and 4 losses as a visitor; against 12 victories, 2 draws and 1 defeat in his stadium.
For this competition, they have not lost any of the last 6 away matches. His attack has scored regularly, as he has always scored at least one goal in the last 10 matches for this competition. In their home matches there is a tendency for goals, since 17 of the last 19 matches have ended with Over 1,5 goals. This is a team that tends to score many times first: it opened the scoring in 10 of its last 12 games for the Primeira Liga, of these 10 it reached the break with an advantage in 6 and managed to maintain the advantage until the end of the 90 ‘in 8 .
Sporting Lisboa is walking step by step in a season in which it has not yet publicly assumed that it is fighting for the title, but at the end of 12 rounds it is the best team in the NOS league. The leadership of Rúben Amorim’s team, with 32 points, four more than rivals FC Porto and Benfica, proves it. After winning the visit to Belenenses (1×2) with some difficulty, he achieved his fifth consecutive victory last Saturday, starting on the right foot in the new year. In Braga’s difficult reception, Sporting had some happiness, due to the opportunities wasted by the rival, but it was more effective in the attack and ended up winning by 2×0, with goals from Pedro Gonalves (54 ‘) and also from the young midfielder Matheus Nunes (78 ‘).
