Jorge Jesus included 18 for Liga NOS matchday 20

Jorge Jesus has announced his squad list for Liga NOS matchday 20 against Académica:

Squad list in full:

Guarda-redes: Rui Patrício and Azbe Jug

Defenders: João Pereira, Ricardo Esgaio, Ewerton, Naldo, Ruben Semedo and Marvin Zeegelaar

Midfielders: Aquilani, William, Adrien and João Mário

Forwards: Mané, Gelson Martins, Matheus Pereira, Bryan Ruiz, Slimani and Montero

Sporting CP-Académica will kick off at 20h45 on Saturday, in Estádio José Alvalade.

Jorge Jesus ahead of his side's hosting of Académica

"Of course Académica will want to win points in Alvalade, it is normal. We will face a team that will play the way they can and we will try to find as much space as we can", Affirmed Jorge Jesus in his pre-match press conference this Friday afternoon, ahead of what he expects to be a tricky hosting of Académica.

"It will be a hard game, but hopefully we will have the capacity to open up the Académica defence, which is our main objective on the way to getting the win", added the Sporting boss, going ton to draw similarities with results against Boavista, U. Madeira and Tondela: "You can find some reasons there, but nothing is that certain. If we look at each game individually and each team for where they are in the league, then it would be harder to face teams that are higher up the table, but that isn't the case in practice."

Accepting that Jefferson will miss out through injury, Jesus went on to speak about the recent arrivals of Sebastián Coates and Ruben Semedo, as well as the possible signing of a goalkeeper: "Coates has a few games under his belt with Sunderland, which means he is in shape. From that point of view there is no problem, but knowing how we play is different. He might take a while to adapt, but it will come with training. If everything is normal with Ruben in training tomorrow then he will be in the the squad. We really liked him in the pre-season and he has been developing well, which is why he is back. Marcelo is close to playing somewhere else, but nothing is true until he signs a contract. We aren't looking for a goalkeeper now, but who knows what can come up."

To finish, Jesus spoke about the possible suspension of Slimani: "It is something I won't say a lot about today, because he is focused on scoring and I don't want him reading something said by his coach. What I will say is that he is an excellent player who is fundamental for the team. He has developed a lot and he is in great form right now."

Sporting CP-Académica will get underway at 20h45 on Saturday, in Estádio José Alvalade.

Sporting CP medical news

Sporting Clube de Portugal main squad clinical update:

Bruno Paulista: muscle injury to the right thigh – specialised training

Jefferson: muscle injury to the right calve – treatment

Bruno César: myalgia in the right thigh adductor muscles – specialised training

Cosme Machado for Liga NOS matchday 20

Cosme Machado, 40, from the Braga Football Association, has been named to referee Sporting's hosting of Académica this weekend, on Liga NOS matchday 20.

Alfredo Braga and José Gomes will act as linesmen.

This will be Machado's second match in charge of a Sporting encounter this season, after the matchday 10 trip to Arouca.

Sporting-Académica will get underway on Saturday at 20h45, in Estádio José Alvalade.

Diogo Salomão

Sporting Clube de Portugal, Futebol SAD has reached an agreement with RCD Mallorca for the permanent transfer of the athlete Diogo Salomão, with Sporting SAD having a 10% sell-on clause.

Sporting SAD wishes Diogo Salomão the best of personal and professional success.

Sebastián Coates

Sporting Clube de Portugal, Futebol, SAD has reached an agreement with Sunderland AFC for the loan of the player Sebastián Coates, with Sporting SAD having an option to purchase the player for 5,000,000.00€.

Sporting SAD wishes Sebastián Coates the best of professional and personal success.

Jorge Jesus on his side's win in Arouca

Jorge Jesus used Tuesday's League Cup encounter to give a run out to his squad this Tuesday night, in Sporting's 1-0 win over Arouca.

“We can take two positives away from this to be honest. The win and the fact that some young players came on. You can train all you want, but it is matches that give confidence and fitness to get us ready for the league run in. We managed the squad in Portimão and that allowed us to go to Paços de Ferreira and push really hard. We wanted to be in the semi-final of this competition and we did everything we could to do that", said the Sporting coach at the final whistle, adding: "The League Cup is an important competition which I have already won five times.Getting into the final is really nice, but most teams are obviously focused on the league."

To finish, Jorge Jesus also tackled a question on the transfer window: "I am not going to speculate. I said we wanted a defender and our priority was the return of Ruben Semedo. We reached a deal with V. Setúbal and he trained at the Academy today."

Sporting win but finish second in League Cup Group C

Sporting claimed the win in Arouca this Tuesday night, but were left to settle for 2nd place in League Cup Group C after Portimonense 3-2 in in Paços de Ferreira. Marvin was on target for the team from Alvalade, with 10 minutes left on the clock.

As promised in his pre-match press conference, Jorge Jesus rang the changes for the encounter and also handed a debut to Azbe Jug in the Sporting goal.

With less playing time together, Arouca were able to establish a foothold early on and Walter was able to get a shot off after beating Paulo Oliveira at the sprint, but the final product ended up wide of the post. Another chance quickly followed for the hosts, this time with Gegé heading over the target following a corner. Some insecurity in the passing game also saw Arouca claw back possession and break forward on occasions and Sporting's first clean chance on goal was made to wait until the quarter of an hour mark, when Paulo Oliveira turned a Nildo free-kick wide.

The anticipated reaction from Jorge Jesus' side really clicked into gear in the 19th minute, when a deep cross from Tanaka picked out André Martins at the far post, but the stand-in captain was unable to find the back of the net. The attack was the signal for a spell of pressing football from the visitors and brilliant bit of play saw Matheus Pereira spray a pass long to Tanaka, who controlled well and set up Montero, but the Colombian was off target. With 30 minutes on the clock the deadlock persisted, while Paços de Ferreira took the lead in Mata Real to begin to tip goal difference in Sporting's favour.

With Arouca mathematically unable to secure a place in the next round of the League Cup and Sporting looking uninspired, 0-0 persisted at the break, while Paços de Ferreira were leading Portimonense 2-1.

Jorge Jesus brough Gelson Martins and Carlos Mané into the action at the start of the second-half for André Martins and Matheus Pereira and it seemed to inject new urgency into the Sporting attack. Chances soon began to follow, first from Montero with a stinging effort that ended up wide, before Carlos Mané followed suit. The pressure on the Arouca goal began to build and on 58 minutes Aquilani had what was arguably Sporting's best chance of the night, but the Italian was also off target.

Sporting had done more than enough to take the lead, but while opportunities were in good supply, clinical finishing was lacking. Paulo Oliveira skimmed the paint off the outside of the post with a header in the 65th minute and on five minutes later the Alvalade defender again game close. Aquilani followed with a free-kick over the bar and Mané saw a shot deflected wide with a last ditch challenge, before Marvin finally opened the scoring ten minutes from time with a rebound after Rui Sacramento had denied Monteero.

Despite the win, Sporting's League Cup campaign comes to an end this season, with Portimonense topping the group with three wins out of three.

Jorge Jesus includes 19 for League Cup showdown

Jorge Jesus has included 19 players in his squad for League Cup Group C matchday 3 against Arouca:

Goalkeepers: Marcelo Boeck and Azbe Jug

Defenders: João Pereira, Ricardo Esgaio, Schelotto, Paulo Oliveira, Ewerton, Domingos Duarte and Marvin

Midfielders: Aquilani e André Martins

Forwards: Carlos Mané, Gelson Martins, Dramé, Daniel Podence, Matheus Pereira, Cristian Ponde, Montero and Tanaka

Arouca-Sporting will get underway at 18h30 on Tuesday, in the Arouca Municipal Stadium.

Jorge Jesus ahead of tomorrow's visit to Arouca

O Sporting will travel to Arouca tomorrow for a 18h30 kick off, in League Cup Group C. Although mathematically possible to secure a place in the next round, Sporting require Portimonense to lose in Paços de Ferreira and for goal difference to turn in favour.

“We know what happens depends on other results and we have to get a better goal different than Portimonense, so of course we want to win. In Portimão we didn't want to put this match at risk. We still have a chance and we are going to take it. I will included four or five players from the B team, who will bring a bit of balance", affirmed Jorge Jesus in an exclusive interview with Sporting TV, adding: "I don't know what team Arouca will use, because they have no chance of getting into the next round. It is going to be a competitive match, but it definitely won't be Arouca's best team because they have other priorities. What matters is that we at least win, then we will see what happens with Portimonense."

Jorge Jesus went on to explain further his inclusion of players from Sporting B, including Gelson Martins and Matheus Pereira: "This is their time to adapt to how we play. It will help them be ready in the future. They are still young lads and I believe a lot of them can go on to do what Gelson and Matheus are doing. Honestly I didn't know a lot about Sporting's youth players, although I knew some from the national team, like Gelson for example. I was surprised to come across players like Gelson and Matheus, with such quality and potential to play for Sporting."

Asked about Adrien and Gelson Martins' time with the club doctors this week, Jesus proved untroubled. "Adrien doesn't look too bad, but Gelson is a bit different. He is coming on, but we have been limiting his playing time because he isn't fully ready yet", explained Jesus, going on to add a word on Slimani's impervious form: "He has a lot of potential and we want to help him. We is doing a great job individually and collectively and we believe in him."

The January transfer window is still wide open and there has been no shortage of links with Alvalade, however Jesus finished with a word of praise for his currently available squad: "We can work more with the squad as time goes on and get more quality out of the lads. The players have come on really quickly in six months and they deserve praise for that. It will be a hard run in at the end of the season and we will have to be ready. When I see we, I don't only mean the players. I mean everybody, because our rivals are going to try and unsteady us."