Preview:Chaves vs. Porto - prediction, team news, lineups

Fresh off the back of a shock defeat against Gil Vicente, Porto visit the Estadio Municipal Eng. Manuel Branco Teixeira to face Chaves in round 23 of the Primeira Liga on Saturday.

Vitor Campelos's men, on the other hand, will head into the weekend looking to snap their three-game winless run and move into the top half of the league standings.

Match preview

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Chaves were denied their first away win of the year last Saturday when they fell to a 1-0 defeat against Rio Ave when the sides met at the Estadio dos Arcos

Despite being under the cosh and seeing less than 40% of the ball possession, 21-year-old Fabio Ronaldo netted against the run of play to hand Luis Freire's men their seventh win of the season.

Chaves have now failed to win any of their last six away games across all competitions, losing twice and claiming four draws since November's 2-1 victory over Casa Pia at the Estadio Pina Manique.

The Flavienses head into the weekend winless in 11 of their last 12 matches across all competitions — losing six and claiming five draws — with a 2-1 win over Maritimo on February 5 being the exception.

Chaves have now picked up six wins, eight draws and lost eight of their 22 league matches to collect 26 points and sit 13th in the Primeira Liga table, level on points with Gil Vicente, Chaves and Portimonense.

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Porto, on the other hand, suffered a fresh blow to their hopes of clinching back-to-back league titles as they fell to a shock 2-1 defeat against Gil Vicente at the Estadio do Dragao last Sunday.

In a game where Joao Mario and Mateus Uribe received their marching orders, Fran Navarro struck in the 27th minute to cancel out Mehdi Taremi's early opener before Murilo Souza completed the comeback from the penalty spot on the stroke of half time.

This was a second defeat on the bounce for Sergio Conceicao's men, who were beaten 1-0 by Italian outfit Inter Milan in the first leg of their Champions League round-of-16 clash at the San Siro on February 22.

Prior to last weekend's loss to the Gilistas, Porto were on a run of six consecutive wins in the Primeira Liga and unbeaten in 11 matches, claiming nine wins and two draws since October's 1-0 defeat against rivals Benfica.

With 51 points from 22 matches, the 2021-22 Portuguese champions are currently second in the Primeira Liga standings, two points above third-placed Braga and eight adrift of league leaders Benfica.

However, Porto will be backing themselves to bounce back this weekend as they go up against a Chaves side who have lost each of the last four meetings between the teams and are winless in their last 11 encounters, losing nine and claiming two draws since 2016.

Team News

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Chaves remain without several key players down the spine of the team as the likes of goalkeeper Paulo Vitor, defender Joao Correia and Senegalese midfielder Sidy Sarr are all recuperating from injuries.

Portuguese youngster Eduardo Borges has been ruled out since picking up a knee injury in November's game against Casa Pia and will play no part in Saturday's game.

Nwankwo Obiora picked up a muscle injury against Vitoria de Guimaraes on January 31 and the Nigerian midfielder is set to sit out his fifth consecutive game.

Meanwhile, Porto will take to the pitch without the duo of Mario and Uribe, who are currently suspended after both picking up red cards against Gil Vicente last time out.

On the injury front, Conceicao will be unable to call upon Brazilian forward Gabriel Veron and goalkeeper Francisco Meixedo, who are currently recuperating from ankle and ligament injuries respectively.

Chaves possible starting lineup:

Moura; Sylla, Vitoria, Ponck, Langa; Mendes, Machado; Euller, Teixeira, Abass; Juninho

Porto possible starting lineup:

Costa; Conceicao, Pepe, Marcano, Wendell; Otavio, Franco, Eustaquio, Pepe; Taremi, Namaso

We say: Chaves 0-2 Porto

Following last Sunday's disappointing defeat against Gil Vicente, Porto will head into the weekend looking to bounce back and keep their title dreams alive. Conceicao's men have enjoyed the better of this fixture, and given the gulf in quality between the two sides, we are backing them to come away with a comfortable win.

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