Taca de Portugal | Third Round

Oct 20, 2024 at 5pm UK

Estadio Jose Gomes

Sintrense vs Porto

Match preview

Sintrense maintained their strong early-season form in their last outing before the international break as they picked up a hard-fought 3-2 victory over FC Barreirense at the Estadio do Sport Uniao Sintrense on October 6.

Fransisco Gomes and Diogo Santos hit the target to cancel out Guilherme Desembargador's 17th-minute opener and turn the game on its head, but after Diogo Nascimento pulled Barreirense level, Silverio Indunga struck in the 83rd minute to hand the hosts all three points.

Sintrense have now gone six straight games without defeat to start the new Campeonato de Portugal campaign, picking up four wins and two draws to sit second in the Group D table, level on points with first-placed Lusitano Evora.

Head coach Filipe Moreira will hope his side can pick up where they left off before the break as they return to action in the Taca de Portugal, where they will be looking to cause an upset this weekend, having scraped through the second round.

Sintrense kicked off their 2024-24 Taca de Portugal campaign on September 22, when they held on to see out a 2-1 victory over Estrela FC courtesy of goals in either half from Bismark Sanca and Santos.

Porto on the other hand, ensured they remain within touching distance of rivals Sporting Lisbon at the top of the Primeira Liga table as they picked up a 2-1 victory over Braga in their final outing before the break.

In a thrilling contest at the Estadio do Dragao, Roger Fernandes netted in the 54th minute to cancel out Wenderson Galeno's first-half opener and draw Braga level, but Pepe struck back four minutes later to hand the host all three points.

This followed a somewhat disappointing 3-3 draw with Manchester United in the Europa League on October 3, when Harry Maguire netted in the first minute of stoppage time to hand the Red Devils a point in Portugal.

With the result against Braga last time out, Porto have now won all but one of their seven Primeira Liga matches to start the season — scoring 18 goals and conceding four — with a 2-0 loss against Sporting Lisbon on August 31 being the exception.

Vitor Bruno's men, who are currently second in the league standings, three points off top spot, now turn their focus to the Taca de Portugal, where they will be looking to kick off their quest for a fourth consecutive title triumph on a high.

Last season, Porto brushed aside Estoril Praia, Santa Clara and Vitoria de Guimaraes en route to the final, where they fought back from behind to secure a 2-1 extra-time victory over Sporting Lisbon courtesy of gold from Evanilson and Mehdi Taremi.

Recent Performance

Sintrense Taca de Portugal form:W

Sintrense form (all competitions):WDWWDW

Porto form (all competitions):WWLWDW

Injuries and suspensions

Sintrense Taca

No sidelined players

Porto

5 Iván Marcano

Possible starting lineup

Porto possible starting lineup:

Costa; Mario; Ze Pedro, Perez, Moura; Eustaquio, Varela; Pepe, Gonzalez, Galeno; Omorodion