Sales begin on the 5th of January

Tickets for Liga NOS matchday 16, between Vitória Futebol Clube and Sporting Clube de Portugal, will go on sale at the Estádio José Alvalade ticket offices as follows:

TUESDAY (10H TO 20H) | Club Members with a 2015/2016 Gamebox and December 2015 fees paid
WEDNESDAY (10H TO 14H) | Club Members with December 2015 fees paid
WEDNESDAY (FROM 14H) | General public

Kick off is scheduled for 20h15 on Wednesday the 6th of January, in Estádio do Bonfim. Tickets are priced at €10.

João de Deus on his side's loss to Sp. Braga B

"It was more of the same. Particularly in the second-half we created chances to score, but we just couldn't", opened João de Deus in his post-match press conference after the 1-0 loss to Sp. Braga B this weekend.

For the Sporting B coach, there was a lot to reflect on: "We showed quality in creating opportunities, but we failed with our finishing while our opponent made the most of theirs. We are frustrated with the result, but we will carry on working. It was just through a bit of inefficiency that we didn't score. We have won a couple of times through a bit of luck and today we lost because we were missing a bit of it."

“We have some important players our injured and some have left, so we have had to create a new dynamic in the squad. I think that everything will be back to normal given a bit of time. All we are missing is putting the ball in the back of the net", finished João de Deus.

Sporting B skipper reflects on his side's loss to Sp. Braga B

Francisco Geraldes received his award for November's II Liga Player of the Month, after his side's 1-0 loss to Sp. Braga B. Speaking at the final whistle, the Alvalade midfielder put the result down to missed chances.

“What was missing for us to get a different result was us converting our chances. We didn't create as many as we would have liked, but we didn't score from any of them. It would be worse if we didn't create any chances and all that is missing is a bit of concentration."

Francisco Geraldes was named Player of the Month on the 17th of December with 7.46% of votes cast, ahead of Gleison (FC Porto B, 6.95%) and Platiny (Feirense, 6.74%).

Sporting B slip to defeat on II Liga matchday 23

Sporting B lost out to Sp. Braga B 1-0 at the Sporting Academy, on II Liga matchday 23. João de Deus' side created more than enough chances to claim the spoils at the final whistle, however a clinical touch proved lacking in front of goal.

The game got off to a lukewarm start, with neither side threatening in the final third with the exception of a dangerous shot from Dramé that ended up in the side-netting and a clearance from Francisco Geraldes that thankfully finished up wide of his own goal.

The midfield battle finally broke in the 32nd minute, when Dramé found space down the right and put in a deep cross for Sacko, only for the Alvalade forward to put his header wide. Down the other end, Carlos Fortes put Braga B ahead after the visitors had won back possession in the area.

Sporting B took the game by the scruff of the neck in the second-half, but a ruthless streak in front of goal was missing and chance after chance went wanting. On 48 minutes, Sacko missed two golden opportunities: firstly from a header after a cross from Francisco Geraldes; then after some battling work in the area that was eventually smothered by the Braga B keeper, Tiago Pereira.

João de Deus responded by pushing his team into a more offensive footing, changing Zezinho for Fokobo and a few minutes later Cissé was put into the attack along side Ponde in an unusual 4x2x4 shape. On 62 minutes Francisco Geraldes saw a shot from range stopped by Tiago Pereira, before Sacko squandered another opportunity to equalise.

The last 20 minutes saw Braga B completely pegged back into their defensive third, but chances for Cissé in the 84th minute and Mama Baldé and Diogo Salomão in added-time were all unable to do justice to the final score.

Jorge Jesus reflects on his side's win against FC Porto and the title race so far

"Sporting played better than FC Porto today, but before I say anything about the game I have to say that these fans deserve a great team. They showed the strength of this club and fans game from everywhere to be here. The fans deserve the players to be playing at this level", opened Jorge Jesus in a flash interview at the final whistle on Saturday night.

Having masterminded yet another win against one of Portugal's Big 3, Jesus played it cool: "There is no secret to this, it is just hard work. The key to the match was the first goal and the team got it. It looked more likely that it would be 2-0 than 1-1 or 3-0 than 2-1 and the fairest result I think would have been 3-1. I have to say that I liked FC Porto and I think they have some strong players individually. It isn't easy to stop them.

In parallel, Jesus was cautious to warn that there is still a lot of football to play this season and that it is too early to be commenting on the title race: “It was just another three points, just like the ones we lost in Madeira. This result could have an influence in the tie-breaker, but nothing more than that. We have a hard road ahead of us and we will try and defend first place for as long as we can. Nobody can guarantee anything in football, but we will fight to achieve our objectives right up to the last game of the season. You asked me before the game if I thought Sporting were the best team and I said I thought FC Porto where because they were in first. After today, we are in first."

Islam Slimani after his side's 2-0 win against FC Porto

Islam Slimani stole the show against FC Porto this Saturday night with two goals to move Sporting back to the top of Liga NOS.

Speaking with radio journalists at the final whistle, the big Algerian was keen to point out the influence of Jorge Jesus: "It was an important win for us, because now we are two points clear at the top of the league. It was a hard match, but we did what we had to do to win. We have shown the quality of this team match after match and we believe in the work we are doing. The coach has done a good job and he has brought a lot to the team."

Sporting leading Liga NOS after convincing display against FC Porto

There is no disputing the facts: in four matches this season against either Benfica or FC Porto, Sporting has won all four. Just as impressive as the wins is the goal difference in clashes with the other two members of Portugal's 'Big 3': 8-1 in favour of the team from Alvalade. In the two Liga NOS wins (3-0 in Estádio da Luz and 2-0 against FC Porto in Alvalade), Sporting's opponents had no more than one single chance on goal during both matches.

With Matheus making the first official senior start of his career and Bryan Ruiz playing off Slimani up front, Sporting began on an offensive footing and soon began threatening the visitors' goal. After a series of corners, João Mário put low shot wide of the post, before Bryan Ruiz and Matheus also failed to find the target from range.

On-way traffic towards the FC Porto goal continued and in the 27th minute justice was done to the scores when Slimani rose highest to convert from a Jefferson free-kick deep down the left flank.

Five tminues later Adrien tested Casillas with a stinging effort, before FC Porto had their only chance of the evening after, breaking away against the run of play. However, Rui Patrício wasn't about to be unfairly beaten and the Alvalade shotstopper denied Aboubakar one-on-one of what looked to be a certain goal.

After a more or less balanced spell after the break, Sporting again began to dominate. Dropping back and happily letting FC Porto hold down possession and push their lines higher, Jorge Jesus' charges began to create chances from speedy counter-attacks and penetrating balls over the top. The tactic worked wondered and four minutes after hour mark Slimani looked to have scored his second of the evening after doing everything right and keeping his effort down, but the Algerian's powerful header ended bouncing up onto the crossbar. From the follow up Bryan Ruiz drove a half-volley towards goal that Casillas turned around the post, before Adrien smashed a low drive against the woodwork from range.

Despite holding down possession, FC Porto were simply unable to create anything going forward and Sporting's second goal was hardly a surprise, when Slimani hooked on to a good pass from Bryan Ruiz to send Alvalade into delirium and move Sporting back to the top of Liga NOS.

Jorge Jesus shares his thoughts ahead of Saturday's FC Porto showdown

Jorge Jesus is expecting a balanced evening of football when his side hosts FC Porto this Saturday, with the Liga NOS top spot up for grabs.

“The stadium selling out is normal right now for how we are playing and for this kind of match. The fans and the players have been sharing a lot of emotion this season and you need that at a club like Sporting. The fans will show again tomorrow what they can do", opened the Sporting coach in his habitual pre-match press conference.

“FC Porto are a great side with quality players, but Sporting are a quality side as well and it will be like it usually is when we take on a big side. What I want is for our quality to make the difference against FC Porto", added Jesus, continuing: "I don't know what the coach on the other side is thinking, but I have to try and guess. I don't think them being in first now will change much for how FC Porto will organise in attack or defence, because it is a team with a fixed style that you can't just change."

Asked to comment on previous episodes between the two Portuguese giants, as well as his previous run-ins with the FC Porto coach, Jesus preferred to focus on the football: "The most important thing in the match is the players and the collective and individual quality of both sides. The match is here and now and I will acknowledge my colleague like I would any other. I wouldn't say that the fans add more pressure, because the season has its ups and downs anyway and the players are always under that kind of pressure. You can't really say that there is a favorite, because such a thing only exists when there is a big difference between."

Responding on a question on FC Porto's current occupation of 1st place in Liga NOS and how is influences his side, Jesus went on: “In practice it is a little bit harder for the team in second, because when you are in front the team behind you has to make up ground. The team chasing first place is Sporting. We said for several weeks that we wanted to defend first place and now we want to chase it down again. We started this season with a lot of emotion and belief that it would be a better season than the last one. We know you can't just turn up and wins come naturally, but the fact is that we have won a trophy and we are fighting to be top of the league."

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

Hugo Miguel named for Liga NOS matchday 15

Hugo Miguel, 38, from the Lisbon Football Association, has been named to take charge of Liga NOS matchday 15 between Sporting and FC Porto.

Hernâni Fernandes and Bruno Trindade will act as linesmen.

This season Hugo Miguel has already officiated over Sporting's win over Rio Ave on Liga NOS matchday 4.

Sporting-FC Porto will get underway at 20h45 on Saturday the 2nd of January, in Estádio José Alvalade.

First team injury news

- Tobias Figueiredo: twist to the right knee. In treatment;

- William Carvalho: myalgia in the left thigh. In treatment;

- Bruno Paulista: muscle injury in right thigh. Conditional training;

- Bryan Ruiz: shock to left knee. In treatment.