Sporting bound for Eagles' nest

Saturday's Lisbon derby between Sporting Clube de Portugal and SL Benfica could easily end up being a major victory for league leaders FC Porto.

Chasing pack
With eight wins in succession, Benfica are seemingly the only side capable of challenging Porto for the title. At the moment, Ronald Koeman's men are three points adrift of Porto at the top of the table, and four points clear of the chasing pack. A Benfica win against eternal rivals Sporting at the Estádio da Luz on Saturday would keep up the pressure on Porto, who are eager to reclaim the title they lost to Benfica last season, but should the Eagles drop points at home, they would give Co Adriaanse's men the whip hand in the title race.

Sporting woes
Fifth in the table and nine points adrift of Porto, Sporting will be in no mood to roll over against their local rivals and coach Paulo Bento hopes that the charged atmosphere at Da Luz can help his side. "There will be a great atmosphere and I believe that could help the players," he said. "If we lose against Benfica, winning the title will be very hard. To be so far adrift of the top two teams would be tough. The key for this derby will be the players' emotional control. We are a very organised and ambitious team, but the players will have to keep their emotions under control."

Koeman confident
Koeman was less concerned about big-match nerves. "We are in great form at the moment so it does not matter much who we play against," said the Dutchman. "We only have to look at our place in the table and the fact that we have won so many matches recently. I think that the pressure will be on Sporting."

Injury worries
With the African Cup of Nations having deprived Sporting of Cameroonian striker Roudolphe Douala and Benfica of their Angolan front-man Mantorras, the home side have more injury worries, with Petit and Fabrizio Miccoli doubtful while goalkeeper José Moreira has been ruled out until the end of the season. Recent derbies have been fairly even. In the last five seasons, both sides have won four games each overall with one draw, while home advantage has not been too significant with each side winning two of the last four meetings at Da Luz.