Perhaps a welcome break from league football as Rio Ave & Sporting CP face off to decide who makes it to next stage of the League Cup. All the pre-match information is available here!
There should be plenty of energy on the pitch in this game, as both sides have had time to recuperate from their last game. Let's hope both teams are ready to give it all.
Rio Ave form and stats
Last season their League Cup adventure ended in the group stage.The home supporters can't complain about results here at Estádio do Rio Ave Futebol Clube as Rio Ave have scored 8 goals to get 12 points from 6 games. The overall stats in the Liga Portugal are 4-0-2 (wins-draws-losses).
Rio are confident in defense, having played 204 minutes without conceding a goal in the league.
Rio Ave are returning here after visiting Marítimo in a League Cup fixture and winning with a 1-0 scoreline.
In the preceding match a 1-0 victory visiting Arouca.The Rio Ave fans would probably like to see some more goals scored at their own stadium in the league, the tally being 8 in 6 matches. From these home matches, Rio Ave have conceded only 5 goals.
Sporting CP form and stats
Nothing but glory last season for Sporting CP, as they won the League Cup.Playing away, Sporting CP have won 3 games, drawn 1 and suffered 3 defeats in the Liga Portugal this season.
The fans enjoyed Sporting CP's previous fixture versus Farense, a League Cup win (6-0) played at home.
Preceding that game was the away Liga Portugal victory against Famalicao with the score of 2-1.Sporting CP are scoring more than one goal per away game on average, having accumulated 10 away goals from 7 games (in the league). Sporting CP have conceded 11 goals in these games.
Head 2 Head
Sporting CP have won at least one point in the last 4 games (2-2-0) facing Rio Ave.Top Goalscorers
  Pote 7 goals |   A. Yakubu 6 goals |  M. Edwards 5 goals |
Rio Ave missing players
Sporting CP missing players
| Rio Ave | Sporting CP | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 13 | Played | P | 11 | 25 | ||
| 12 | 9 | Won | W | 4 | 12 | ||
| 5 | 1 | Drew | D | 2 | 4 | ||
| 8 | 3 | Lost | L | 5 | 9 | ||
| 29 | 16 | Scored | S | 15 | 45 | ||
| 27 | 8 | Conceded | C | 17 | 31 | ||
| 96% | 92% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 100% | ||
| 52% | 38% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 82% | 92% | ||
| 36% | 31% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 64% | 60% | ||
| 24% | 15% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 18% | 28% | ||
| 12% | 8% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 18% | 16% | ||
| 36% | 23% | BTTS | BTTS | 55% | 48% | ||
| 44% | 62% | Clean Sheets | C S | 18% | 28% | ||
| 24% | 23% | Failed to Score | F T | 27% | 24% | ||
| 4.5 | 4.1 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 6.5 | 6.4 | ||
| 5.6 | 5.5 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 3.6 | 3.5 | ||
| 2.8 | 2.2 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 3.4 | 3 | ||
| 3 | 1 | Red cards | R C | 2 | 4 | ||
| 11.3 | 11.2 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 13.4 | 14.3 | ||
| 3.9 | 4.1 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 4.5 | 5.2 | ||
| 32% | 36% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 30% | 36% | ||
| 13.4 | 11.8 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 11.7 | 9.4 | ||
| 4.3 | 3.6 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 4.4 | 3.5 | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Sporting CP | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 |
| 2 | Rio Ave | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | Marítimo | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 |
| 4 | Farense | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | -6 | 0 |
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Benfica | 13 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 30 | 37 |
| 2 | Porto | 13 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 31 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 6 | 22 | 29 |
| 3 | Sporting Braga | 13 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 29 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 7 | 17 | 28 |
| 4 | Sporting CP | 13 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 26 | 15 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 25 |
| 5 | Casa Pia | 13 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 23 |
| 6 | Vitoria Guimaraes | 13 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 13 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 23 |
| 7 | Portimonense | 13 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 12 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 7 | -2 | 19 |
| 8 | Chaves | 13 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 16 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 11 | -3 | 19 |
| 9 | Arouca | 13 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 19 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 7 | -5 | 19 |
| 10 | Rio Ave | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 16 | 18 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 13 | -2 | 18 |
| 11 | Boavista | 13 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 14 | 23 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 11 | -9 | 17 |
| 12 | Estoril | 13 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 14 | 18 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 6 | -4 | 16 |
| 13 | Vizela | 13 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 7 | -2 | 15 |
| 14 | Santa Clara | 13 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 5 | -2 | 13 |
| 15 | Famalicao | 13 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 11 | 18 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 11 | -7 | 11 |
| 16 | Gil Vicente | 13 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 21 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 13 | -10 | 9 |
| 17 | Marítimo | 13 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 27 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 19 | -19 | 6 |
| 18 | Pacos de Ferreira | 13 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 7 | 26 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 14 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 12 | -19 | 2 |
