Seeking to pick up consecutive wins in the Primeira Liga for the first time this season, Braga play host to Portimonense at the Braga Municipal Stadium on Monday.
The game has all the makings of a riveting and absorbing contest as both sides are presently separated by just one place and two points in the top half of the table.
Match preview
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Braga made it three wins on the bounce last Monday when they saw off a dogged Gil Vicente side 1-0 at the Estadio Cidade de Barcelos.
After going ahead inside the opening four minutes through Vitor Oliveira's strike, Os Arcebispos put on a defensive show of class to repel the Gilistas' constant waves of attack and see out the win.
Prior to that, Carlos Carvalhal's men claimed an emphatic 5-0 victory over Moreirense to progress into the fourth round of the Taca de Portugal on October 17 before edging out Ludogorets Razgrad 1-0 in the Europa League four days later.
However, they were denied a dream start to their Taca da Liga campaign last time out as they were held to an uneventful goalless draw in Group C by Pacos de Ferreira on home turf.
Braga, who are unbeaten in their last eight games across all competitions, now turn their attention to the Primeira Liga, where they are fifth in the standings, one place above Monday's hosts, after picking up 16 points from the opening nine games.
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On the other hand, Portimonense's blistering run of results took a halt last time out courtesy of a 2-0 defeat against Estoril Praia at the Estadio Municipal de Portimao.
Despite seeing just 39% of the ball possession, second-half strikes from Andre Franco and Bruno Lourenco helped the Canarinhos secure their second straight win over the hosts.
Prior to that, Paulo Sergio's side were on a run of five games without defeat across all competitions, claiming three wins and two draws, while scoring seven goals and conceding four in that time.
While the Alvinegros will be looking to bounce back from that result, next up is the daunting task of squaring off against an opposing side who are unbeaten in the most recent 15 meetings between the teams, stretching back to August 2010.
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Team News
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Veteran goalkeeper Ricardo Ferreira remains out of contention for Portimonense after the 31-year-old sustained an injury in the game against Academica Coimbra back in July.
Nineteen-year-old forward Renato Junior was handed just his second league start against Estoril Praia last time out, but after his unconvincing performance, he could make way for Colombia's Wilinton Aponza.
Meanwhile, Lucas Piazon is set to miss his third consecutive game after the former Chelsea man picked up an injury in the Europa League tie against Ludogorets Razgrad on October 21.
Vitor Tormena will also play no part in the game after sustaining a muscle injury 18 minutes after coming off the bench in the game against Gil Vicente last Monday.
David Carmo misses out as he continues his long journey to full fitness after sustaining a severe ankle problem back in February, while Francisco Moura is suspended after receiving his marching orders against Pacos de Ferreira last Thursday.
Braga possible starting lineup:
Matheus; Tormena, Oliveira, Leite; Fabiano, Mineiro, Musrati, Galeno; Horta, Gonzalez, Medeiros
Portimonense possible starting lineup:
Samuel; Moufi, Rocha, Pedrao, Cande; Oliveira, Fernandes, Carlinhos, Boa Morte; Fabricio, Aponza
We say: Braga 2-1 Portimonense
Portimonense head into Monday's game unbeaten in each of their last four away games and will be looking to take the fight to their hosts. However, past results have shown Braga have a clear upper hand in the history of this fixture and we predict they will capitalise on their home advantage and come away with all three points.
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 59.84%. A draw had a probability of 23.7% and a win for Portimonense had a probability of 16.41%.
The most likely scoreline for a Braga win was 1-0 with a probability of 14.6%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (12.38%) and 2-1 (9.36%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.04%), while for a Portimonense win it was 0-1 (6.52%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 7% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Braga would win this match.
