Sporting Lisbon take on the visitors Rio Ave in the semifinal match of Taça de Portugal. The match will be played on Thursday, April 3rd at Estádio José Alvalade (Lisbon).
Sporting (Lisbon) went through a lot with Rúben Amorim, including a disappointing fourth-place finish two seasons ago, which the club forgave him for—and he repaid that faith by winning the 2023/2024 title race against Benfica. There were no signs of trouble at the start of the new campaign, as Viktor Gyökeres and company hit the ground running. However, Manchester United’s relentless pursuit of Amorim in the autumn proved too tempting, and the young coach left for England, where he has since struggled. Without him, Sporting has been inconsistent, and Rui Borges is already the second manager to take charge post-Amorim. They lost the League Cup final on penalties to Benfica and crashed out of the Champions League in the first knockout round against a struggling Borussia Dortmund. Despite this, they have maintained their lead in the Primeira Liga, although their advantage has shrunk. In their last league game, they avoided a slip-up with a convincing 3-0 win over Estrela. Now, with just a few steps left to a potential cup triumph, they must ensure they don’t falter in this crucial matchup.
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Rio Ave knows exactly what kind of opportunity this is. The Riversiders rarely achieve significant success. They have reached three domestic cup finals but lost them all. Notably, in the 2013/2014 season, they made it to both the Taça de Portugal and Taça da Liga finals, kicking off the best era in the club’s history. Between then and 2020, they qualified for European competitions three times, even reaching the group stage on one occasion. However, after that, they suffered relegation to the second division. Although they returned quickly, they have since hovered around the lower half of the league table. Last season, they finished 11th, and a similar outcome looks likely this year after another uninspiring performance against Casa Pia. This makes the cup their best chance to salvage the season, and they have given it full focus. They have already eliminated four teams, although none were particularly strong—the toughest test was Casa Pia, while Alverca was knocked out on penalties. Now, facing Sporting, they must rise to the occasion.
In their last eight meetings, Rio Ave has managed only one draw, which came in February last year, while Sporting has won the rest. Sporting is the clear favorite here, and the only real question is the margin of victory. A balanced and optimal bet is Sporting -2 handicap.
Prediction for the match: Sporting to win with -2.0 handicap.
