Sporting Clube de Portugal play away at GD Estoril Praia this Friday, on Matchday 7 of the Liga Portugal season.

 

Os Leões will be looking to secure another win and break another record, but coach Rúben Amorim is aware that it will not be an easy game.

 

“It will be a difficult match, like all of them. We don’t know what the weather will be like, but the wind always has a big influence there. GD Estoril Praia are a team that play 4-3-3, with a different way of defending, but we have looked at what we did against teams that play like that, seen what we can improve and, I think, we have a good plan to be able to maintain our attacking momentum," he told the media on Thursday.

 

"They are a team with very talented young players, but who have lost other players, which is maybe why they have had greater difficulties linking up at the beginning of the season, but we are prepared. We are in good form and we want to maintain this momentum."

 

Amorim revealed that Eduardo Quaresma and Gonçalo Inácio will be available for this game, as will Vladan Kovačević, but that the starting goalkeeper will be Franco Israel. He also added that Marcus Edwards and Pedro Gonçalves are unlikely to be fit before the international break.

 

"Maxi Araújo is ready to start. He has trained less with us, unlike Conrad Harder, but he is ready to be a starter and is waiting for his opportunity."

 

“The eleven we are going to field will be clearly the best for this game. We are not thinking about PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League, only GD Estoril Praia. The teams below us are playing well, they are not dropping points and we cannot afford to drop points either. This is the most important game right now, then we will see what we do next," he insisted.

 

“We cannot just go by performances or results. There is always something more to improve. I don't feel very comfortable with the idea that Sporting CP are unstoppable and won't concede points. I feel uncomfortable about that and we want the players to feel that discomfort. We have to always be at our best. It's not a question of praising them as much as I should; I think they've been doing very well, but they can do better.”

 

Amorim wants a Sporting CP side that is always better in defence and attack, but he says that this is the best the team have been since he arrived at the club.

 

“I think it's the best, the one with the most intensity and the most confidence. It's the team that I think believes in itself the most. I can feel that in the players. When we go into the game, I don't know what the result will be, and I always feel anxious about that, but I feel more relaxed about what will happen. Last year I think I said it was the best Sporting CP, but we've taken another step forward and, clearly, we're closer to the idea I have for my Sporting CP team. So yes, this is the best Sporting CP so far.”