Sporting, with young Mozambican international Geny Catamo at the helm, face a tough test at the top of the I Liga on Saturday, at Vitória de Guimarães stadium, in a match on the 13th matchday, in which the chasing Benfica and FC Porto will have easier tasks.

The national champions, in second place and two points behind their Lisbon rivals, host Farense (eighth) on Friday, while Porto, in third place and three points off the top, also play Casa Pia (11th) on Saturday.

Sporting will face the fifth-placed team in the I Liga, who even lost their last home game, against FC Porto (2-1), and who have a very negative recent record against the 'lions' in the league: defeats in the last three seasons and only four wins in three decades.

The Alvalade team is motivated by regaining sole leadership of the competition, achieved on Monday thanks to a 3-1 win over Gil Vicente, after being caught by Benfica, losing 2-1 at the Estádio da Luz.

On the other hand, coach Rúben Amorim will have a difficult problem to solve in defense, due to the absence of central midfielders Sebastián Coates (suspended) and Jeremiah St. Juste (injured), although he can count on the scoring prowess of striker Viktor Gyökeres, the second top scorer in the I Liga with nine goals.

Sporting may well go into the game in second place, behind Benfica, but in order to put pressure on their opponents in the fight for the title, the 'red' team will have to achieve a result that has been more or less customary when hosting Farense, as they have won 21 of the 24 meetings.

The victory over the 'lions' seemed to have put Benfica back on the road to success, but the 0-0 draw at Moreirense in the previous round and the poor soccer played by the national champions has revived the criticism of German coach Roger Schmidt.

FC Porto are the last of the 'big three' to take to the pitch after their midweek defeat to Estoril Praia (3-1), which knocked the 'dragons' out of the final four of the League Cup, the competition in which they hold the trophy.

The Blue and Whites are looking to match Casa Pia's best run of consecutive wins in the league, with three, an unusual record at a time when they are more than a third of the way through the competition.

The 'dragons' could also come under pressure from fourth-placed Sporting de Braga, with two points less than the runners-up and six wins from their last seven games, who open their campaign this Friday in Vizela against the 15th-placed team, the first position in the direct relegation zone.

The 13th round, which features a clash between two teams in the 'red zone' of the standings, between bottom-placed Arouca and Rio Ave, the last-placed team, concludes on Monday with Gil Vicente hosting Moreirense.