Fresh off the back of an impressive 2-1 victory at Sporting Lisbon, Braga return to the Estadio Braga Municipal where they play host to Moreirense on Sunday.
Os verdes e brancos will head into the game desperate to get one over the hosts after losing each of the last six meetings between the sides since 2019.
Match preview
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Braga recorded one of their most impressive results in the Primeira Liga this season when they came from behind to snatch a 2-1 victory over reigning champions Sporting Lisbon last Saturday.
In a thrilling contest at the Estadio Jose Alvalade, Pedro Goncalves scored in the 24th minute to hand the Leoes a first-half lead, but Wenderson Galeno restored parity from the penalty spot seven minutes after the interval before Jean-Baptiste Gorby grabbed the winner in the seventh minute of injury time to bring a dramatic end to the contest.
This followed a disappointing 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Maritimo when the sides squared off on January 15 which saw their three-game unbeaten run in the league come to an end.
With 35 points from 19 games, Carlos Carvalhal's side are currently fourth in the Primeira Liga standings, nine points behind third-placed Benfica and five above Gil Vicente in the final Conference League qualification spot.
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Moreirense, on the other hand, continue to struggle for consistency as they were beaten 2-0 by Santa Clara when the sides squared off at the Parque de Jogos Comendador Joaquim de Almeida Freitas last time out.
In a game where Steven Vitoria received his marching orders, Ricardinho opened the scoring on the stroke of half time before Mohammad Mohebi made sure of the result with his first goal of the season five minutes away from time.
Ricardo Sa Pinto's men have now picked up one win from their most recent four games, while managing just two in their last nine across all competitions, losing five and claiming two draws in that time.
This poor run of results has seen the Os verdes e brancos drop into the relegation places as they currently occupy 16th place on the log after picking up 16 points from their opening 19 games.
While Moreirense will look to return to winning ways and pull clear of the drop zone, next up is the daunting task of going up against a Braga side who have won each of their last six meetings between the sides, stretching back to a 1-0 defeat back in April 2019.
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Team News
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Braga remain without the service of the Portuguese defensive duo of Nuno Sequeira and David Carmo, who are recuperating from knee and ankle injuries respectively.
Yan Couto and Tiago Sa, who recently tested positive for COVID-19, are both major doubts for the Os Arcebispos and could miss out once again.
Gorby, who scored the winner against Sporting Lisbon last time out, has shown flashes of brilliance in recent weeks and the French youngster could be rewarded with just his second start of the season.
Meanwhile, Moreirense will take to the pitch without the services of 22-year-old full-back Godfried Frimpong, who picked up an injury back in September.
He is joined on the club's injury table by Felipe Soares after the 22-year-old midfielder picked up an injury in the game against Vizela on January 8.
Vitoria is also out of contention for the visitors as the veteran defender is currently suspended after receiving his marching orders in the game against Santa Clara last time out.
Os verdes e brancos recently announced the signing of former Everton man Kevin Mirallas and the 34-year-old could be handed his debut on Sunday.
Braga possible starting lineup:
Matheus; Tormena, Rodrigues, Leite; Silva, Castro, Moura, Al Musrati; Galeno, R Horta, Oliveira
Moreirense possible starting lineup:
Kewin; Conceicao, Rosic, Santos, Conte; Mota, Camara, Pires; Santos, Walterson; Martins
We say: Braga 2-0 Moreirense
On the back of their performance against Sporting Lisbon, Braga will head into Sunday's game with sky-high confidence. They have been utterly dominant in the history of this fixture and we are backing them to keep the juggernaut rolling and claim all three points once again.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Braga win with a probability of 67.96%. A draw had a probability of 19.8% and a win for Moreirense had a probability of 12.26%.
The most likely scoreline for a Braga win was 2-0 with a probability of 13.13%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (12.93%) and 2-1 (9.5%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.36%), while for a Moreirense win it was 0-1 (4.61%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 13.1% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted a 2-0 win for Braga in this match.
