Can Sporting Keep Up Electric Form Without Amorim?

It has been nothing short of an epic start to the campaign for Sporting Clube de Portugal. Under Ruben Amorim, Sporting have now won two league titles in the past four seasons — as many as they had won in the previous four decades prior to his arrival. And after winning each of their first 10 league matches of the campaign, the Betpanda Bonus odds are in their favor as they look to become the first team in eight years to win back-to-back Primeira Liga titles since Rui Vitoria’s Benfica pulled it off.

You’d have to go all the way back to the start of the 1950s for the last time that Sporting finished atop the Portuguese top-flight in consecutive years, but after a stellar start that has seen them score 35 goals and concede just three, the Lions are well-positioned to end that drought and continue their domestic dominance. However, they’ll have to do so without Amorim, who will depart the club in the November international break and replace Erik ten Hag as Manchester United’s new manager.

Sporting have already found the heir to his throne: João Pereira. Pereira returned to Sporting for a third spell in 2021, winning his second league title under Amorim a mere 16 years after conquering his first at boyhood club Benfica, before hanging up his boots. Since then, he has spent two years as manager of Sporting’s U-23 side as well as a couple of months as manager of Sporting’s B team, and he will have the mission of filling Amorim’s lofty footsteps and taking charge of one of the most in-form teams in world football.

As things stand, Sporting currently sit two points above Porto — who will play Benfica on Sunday in the Clássico — eight points above Benfica, who have a game in hand, and 10 above Braga. Indeed, apart from a 1-1 draw to PSV Eindhoven in the UEFA Champions League and a 4-3 loss to Porto in the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, Sporting have won each of their 15 matches this season, the latest of which saw them demolish Manchester City 5-1 thanks to a hat-trick from Swedish sharpshooter Viktor Gyökeres.

What’s more, they currently find themselves on track to finish in the top eight and receive an automatic bye to the UEFA Champions League Round of 16. Having taken 10 points thus far against City, PSV, Sturm Graz and Lille, they sit second in the standings at the halfway point of the league phase, level on points with Monaco, Brest, and Inter as well as two points adrift league leaders Liverpool. The remaining four matches will see them host Arsenal, travel to Club Brugge and RB Leipzig before welcoming Bologna to the Estádio José Alvalade.

It has been four years and eight months since Sporting acquired Amorim from Braga for a fee rising to €14.4 million, making him the second-most expensive manager of all time, and it is fitting that his last match at the helm will see him return to his former stomping grounds and face off against Braga at the Pedreira, a uniquely complex challenge for a uniquely talented coach.

Whilst Sporting have won each of their last three home matches vs. Braga by a margin of 5-0, they’ve failed to beat Braga in each of their last three meetings outside the Alvalade. Can they pull off their first win in Braga since August 2021 and give the perfect sendoff to their legendary manager?