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Sporting Lisbon will host Rio Ave at the Jose Alvalade on Friday in the opening round of the 2024-25 Primeira Liga campaign. The home team performed brilliantly in the Portuguese top flight last season, ultimately winning the league title with a comfortable 10-point margin and will be looking to begin their title defense this weekend on a winning note.
The hosts returned to competitive action last weekend, facing rivals Porto in the Portuguese Super Cup. They began the game on the front foot and raced to a three-goal lead less than 25 minutes after kick-off before a lapse in concentration saw them perhaps inexplicably lose the game 4-3.
Rio Ave, meanwhile, had mixed results in the Primeira Liga last season, leading the division in draws for a second consecutive campaign as they finished 11th in the table with 37 points from 34 games.
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However, they failed to impress during the off-season, suffering a 3-0 defeat to Swansea City in their final pre-season outing, and will be desperate for a positive start to their league campaign this weekend.
Sporting vs Rio Ave Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- There have been 67 meetings between Sporting and Rio Ave. The hosts have won 41 of those games while the visitors have won just nine times.
- There have been 17 draws between the two teams including their most recent matchup which ended 3-3.
- The hosts are undefeated in their last eight games in this fixture.
- The visitors are without a clean sheet in their last 17 games in this fixture, a run dating back to 2016.
- The Lions are undefeated in their last 10 Primeira Liga openers.
Sporting Lisbon vs Rio Ave Prediction
Sporting have lost their last two competitive outings after going undefeated in their previous 11. They won all 17 of their home league games last season and will be looking forward to the weekend clash.
Rio Ave wrapped up their pre-season campaign on a four-game winless streak and won just two of their seven friendlies during the off-season. They were the only side in the Portuguese top flight last season without a win on the road and could see their away struggles continue here.
Prediction: Sporting Lisbon 2-0 Rio Ave
Sporting Lisbon vs Rio Ave Betting Tips
Tip 1 - Result: Sporting Lisbon to win
Tip 2 - Goals - Over/under 2.5 - Under 2.5 goals (Six of the last eight matches between the two teams have produced fewer than 2.5 goals)
Tip 3 - Both teams to score: NO (Both sides have found the back of the net in just one of their last six matchups)
