Cheapest option is to buy a Freesat box and card in the uk and then have this connected to your dish.
No monthly subscriptions and more than enough channels.
Can always watch Premier league etc at one of the many bars which show sports.
You can buy satellite kits in most diy superstores in the Algarve and they will pick up all the free channels for approx €80 BUT if you want the channels targetted at the UK you will need to replace the 60-80cm dish with one approx 120-150cm.
I have one with 60cm dish and get BBC World, Sky News, Eurosport (German) and over 200 other free channels from the Astra 19 degrees satellite. I can live without the soaps.
The progs must be very simlar to that we already get in our apartment.
however if we are in Portugal for any length of time we will need more than just the basic news channels in english. ( agree about the soaps )
Since you will need a sat dish installing, would suggest you buy the whole package from a reliable supplier in Portugal. We used R J Tecnica in CVO, and have never had a problem (other than occasional weak BBC signals, which has nothing to do with the equipment). We have a 130cm dish.