Sporting Lisbon and Sporting Braga will face off in the Portuguese Super Cup on Saturday evening at Estadio Municipal de Aveiro for the first trophy of the new season in Portuguese football.
After a humiliating 5-0 defeat to bitter rivals Benfica in 2019, the squad from Lisbon returns to the Super Cup showdown.
The players will undoubtedly be thinking about that game, and they will be more driven this time to avoid a repeat disaster.
Sporting did an incredible job last season, winning the title with a five-point lead over second-placed Porto.
Sporting CP has been in complete control of the rankings for the whole season, and they have rightly won the Primeira Liga silverware for the first time in twenty years.
In this Super Cup match, they face Taca da Portugal champions Braga. Braga had a disappointing season in the Primeira Liga, finishing fourth with a 21-point gap to Sporting.
However, they had a fantastic cup run, defeating Porto and Benfica in the semifinals and finals, respectively.
Sporting Lisbon has a good relationship with Braga. In 62 matches with Braga, they won 37 and lost 21.
Surprisingly, just four of the 62 head-to-head matches between the two teams ended in a draw.
Last season, the two teams met three times (twice in Primeira Liga and once in the League Cup), with Sporting Lisbon winning all three games with a clean sheet.
Both teams made numerous changes during the summer, and their managers will undoubtedly require some time to acclimate the newcomers. Sporting Lisbon and Braga both seem terrific from what we've seen so far in pre-season.
Prediction: We predict 2.5 Over in this match
Tip: 2.5 Over
