MX23RW : Tuesday, March 19 05:39:08| >> :600:322957:322957:
[monks data]
Porto
Primeira Liga | Gameweek 19
Feb 13, 2021 at 8.30pm UK
Estádio do Dragão
Boavista
Porto
2 - 2
Boavista
Taremi (54'), Oliveira (82' pen.)
Lopes (29'), Evanilson (90+4')
FT(HT: 0-2)
Porozo (8'), Elis (45+1')
Paulinho (18'), Cid (67'), Jardim (85'), Rami (90+7'), Perez (90+7')

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

Sports Mole previews Saturday's Primeira Liga clash between Porto and Boavista, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Porto welcome Boavista to the Estadio do Dragao on Saturday, in a crucial game at both ends of the Primeira Liga table.

Last time out, the home side drew a dramatic Taca de Portugal semi-final first leg with Braga, while Boavista fell to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Nacional.


Match preview

Porto head coach Sergio Conceicao pictured on November 3, 2020© Reuters

On Wednesday night, Porto travelled to Braga in the first leg of the Taca de Portugal semi-final, with the match ending 1-1.

After 70 minutes, with Os Dragoes leading 1-0 thanks to a Mehdi Taremi goal, Luis Diaz was shown a red card, before the Primeira Liga champions were reduced to nine men deep into added time, when Mateus Uribe was sent off after 97 minutes.

Five minutes later, Fransergio scored for the hosts with the last kick of the game to see the leg finish level.

Remarkably, in the game before that cup tie, Braga again scored late to draw with Porto, when Fransergio found the net after 87 minutes, followed by a 94th-minute Nicolas Gaitan goal to see the sides draw 2-2 in league action, after goals from Taremi and Sergio Oliveira gave the Dragoes a two-goal lead.

That was a second consecutive draw for the defending champions, as strugglers Belenenses previously held them to a 0-0 stalemate.

Sergio Conceicao will be desperate to put those frustrating results in the past, and turn around their fortunes with a win in this game, which could see them gain ground on league leaders Sporting Lisbon.

His side currently sit eight points off the top spot, as they look to retain the league title after fending off Benfica to pick up their 29th domestic crown last season.

Porto have once again shown themselves to be a potent attacking outfit this campaign, with no side in the league matching their 41 goals so far in the top flight.

That has led them to a 24-match unbeaten run in all competitions, with their last loss coming in October.

However, it is still crucial that they get back to winning ways in the league, in order to keep pace with Sporting, who currently sit comfortably at the summit of the division, having won their last four matches.

Conceicao's side take on a Boavista team who will be desperate for a win of their own here, which could see them move out of the league's bottom three.

Porto's Antonio Martinez celebrates scoring their second goal with teammates in January 2021© Reuters

They come into this game after two consecutive narrow losses in league action, falling to Gil Vicente and Nacional.

Most recently, Nuno Santos turned the ball into his own net, gifting Nacional the only goal of the game and condemning As Panteras to an eighth Primeira Liga loss of the season.

In the game at home to Gil Vicente, the sides looked set to play out a 1-1 draw, before Yves Baraye snatched all three points for the visitors in the final five minutes.

Before those results, Jesualdo Ferreira's side picked up a crucial victory, when they won 2-1 away at fellow strugglers Portimonense, thanks to a second-half comeback, with goals from Alberth Elis and Paulinho sealing their second league win of the season.

That result lifted Ferreira's men off the foot of the table, and they now sit just two points adrift of automatic safety, which will offer encouragement for Os Axadrezados as a win could see them jump out of the bottom three.

However, they may not be too confident coming into this game against the league's best attacking side, as only Famalicao have conceded more than the 30 that Boavista have shipped so far this season.

Porto Primeira Liga form: WDWWDD
Porto form (all competitions): WWWDDD

Boavista Primeira Liga form: DLLWLL


Team News

Porto players celebrate scoring against Marseille in the Champions League on November 3, 2020© Reuters

The Dragoes will be without Luis Diaz and Mateus Uribe through suspension, after the pair were shown red cards in the draw with Braga.

Conceicao also has several absentees through injury, with full-backs Nanu and Zaidu Sanusi both spending time on the sidelines.

They are joined by midfielder Otavio, who remains out of contention with a muscle injury.

However, they will be boosted by the return of Jesus Corona, who missed the game against Braga with a suspension.

The clinical pairing of Mehdi Taremi and Moussa Marega should lead the Porto line once again in this crucial game, with the two forwards registering a combined 14 goals and 10 assists in league action so far this season.

Boavista will be without midfielder Miguel Reisinho, who remains out with a ligament rupture.

They also face the huge loss of the experienced Javi Garcia, who will serve a suspension after he was shown a red card in the loss to Nacional.

We expect the visitors to revert back to a system of three centre-backs for this game, after they played a more attacking side against Nacional, with Chiwodie Awaziem, Adil Rami and Cristian Devenish expected to form their back line.

Porto possible starting lineup:
Marchesin; Manafa, Mbemba, Pepe, Sarr; Corona, Oliveira, Grujic, Anderson; Marega, Taremi

Boavista possible starting lineup:
Leonardo; Awaziem, Devenish, Rami; Cannon, Paulinho, Gomes, Santos, Elis; Njie, Gustavo


SM words green background

We say: Porto 2-0 Boavista

While we do not see this being a routine win for Conceicao's men, thanks to a busy recent schedule and several notable absentees, we still expect them to show their quality here and get back to winning ways, in a game which they will feel they have to pick up three points from.


Top betting tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 3.5:data


ID:434826: cacheID:434826:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:11093:

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 Porto win with a probability of 73.68%. A draw had a probability of 17.2% and a win for Boavista had a probability of 9.16%.

The most likely scoreline for a Porto win was 2-0 with a probability of 14.09%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (12.64%) and 3-0 (10.47%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.1%), while for a Boavista win it was 0-1 (3.63%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 2.9% likelihood.


Previews by email

Click here to get Sports Mole's daily email of previews and predictions for every major game!


Restore Data
Share this article now:
Liverpool forward Diogo Jota completes his hat-trick against Atalanta BC on November 3, 2020
Read Next:
CL Team of the Week - Jota, Plea, Lewandowski
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Sporting Lisbon25212275255065
2Benfica26204260213964
3Porto26184450183258
4Braga26165555342153
5Vitoria de GuimaraesGuimaraes26155641271450
6MoreirenseMoreirense2612682827142
7AroucaArouca26104124337634
8FamalicaoFamalicao2561092430-628
9Gil Vicente2677123539-428
10BoavistaBoavista2677123351-1828
11Casa Pia2676132339-1627
12SC FarenseFarense2676133438-427
13Estrela Amadora2668122639-1326
14Estoril PraiaEstoril2674154249-725
15Rio AveRio Ave2641392635-925
16PortimonensePortimonense2665152453-2923
17Vizela2649132652-2621
18ChavesChaves2647152556-3119

Subscribe to our newsletter


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!