Preview: Braga vs Santa Clara - prediction, team news, lineups

Santa Clara will be looking to secure back-to-back Primeira Liga victories for the first time this season when they go head to head with Braga at the Estadio Braga Municipal on Monday evening.

Os Arcebispos, who are unbeaten in each of their last 10 games against the visitors since September 2020, will be out to extend this dominant five-year streak and pick up a fourth league win on the trot for the first time since February.

Match preview

Braga maintained their impressive run of results on the continental scene in midweek when they held their own to see out a 1-0 victory over French outfit Nice in their Europa League clash.

In an action-packed contest, both sides were guilty of a wasteful display in front of goal, with Pau Victor’s 28th-minute strike proving to be the difference at the Allianz Riviera Stadium.

Braga are well on course to secure automatic passage to the Europa League playoffs, as they sit seventh in the table, having picked up four wins and one draw from their six games — their only defeat came on November 6, when they narrowly fell 4-3 against Belgian side Genk.

Carlos Vicens’s men have also upped the ante back home, picking up three wins from their most recent three Primeira Liga matches, including last weekend’s 2-1 victory at Famalicao, having managed just one win from the eight games preceding this run.

Following their stuttering start to the campaign, this upturn in form has seen Braga surge into fifth place in the Primeira Liga standings with 22 points from 13 games, three points behind fourth-placed Gil Vicente.

While it has been a topsy-turvy league campaign for Santa Clara so far, they will head into Monday’s tie in high spirits, following their hard-earned 1-0 victory over Casa Pia last weekend.

Veteran defender Frederico Venancio put Santa Clara ahead with a close-range finish in the 11th minute, before the Azoreans held on to see out the victory at the Estadio de Sao Miguel.

Prior to that, Santa Clara snapped their run of four consecutive defeats on November 23 with a 3-0 victory over Campeonato de Portugal side Comercio Industria in the Taca de Portugal fourth round, one week before playing out a 1-1 draw with Rio Ave on their return to league action.

While Vasco Matos’s men have picked up four wins and three draws from their 13 Primeira Liga matches to collect 15 points and sit 11th in the league standings, they could move into the top half of the table with a win this weekend.

However, Santa Clara will need to be at their best at the Estadio Braga Municipal against an opposing side whom they have failed to get the better of in any of their last 10 meetings, including seven defeats, since a 1-0 victory in September 2020.

Braga Primeira Liga form:

Braga form (all competitions):

Santa Clara Primeira Liga form:

Santa Clara form (all competitions):

Team News

Braga remain without the services of 20-year-old defender Jonatas Noro, who continues his lengthy spell on the sidelines through an Achilles tendon injury.

With his strike against Nice, Victor has scored in back-to-back games for Braga, and the former Barcelona man should retain his role in attack, forming the front three with Fran Navarro and skipper Ricardo Horta.

At the defensive end of the pitch, we should see an unchanged back four of Victory Carvalho, Sikou Niakate and German 22-year-old Bright Arrey-Mbi shielding Lukas Hornicek between the sticks.

Pedro Pacheco continues his lengthy spell on the sidelines due to a cruciate ligament injury and the 28-year-old defender remains out of contention for Santa Clara.

Other than that, the Azoreans head into the weekend with a clean bill of health and no suspension concerns, giving head coach Matos the luxury of a relatively full strength squad to select from.

Braga possible starting lineup:

Hornicek; Carvalho, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi; Gomez, Moutinho, Gorby, Martinez; Victor, Navarro, Horta

Santa Clara possible starting lineup:

Batista; Venancio, Rocha, Lima; Soares, Araujo, Ferreira, Firmino, Victor; Wendel, Lucas

We say: Braga 2-0 Santa Clara

While Santa Clara will look to continue from where they left off against Casa Pia and move into the top half of the table, they are in for a tough 90 minutes against a resurgent Braga side, who have won all but one of their last six matches across all competitions.

Vicens’s men are on a run of 10 consecutive matches without defeat in this fixture and we are backing them to extend this hot streak with a comfortable victory in front of their home supporters.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.