The Primeira Liga returns with another high-profile fixture as league leaders Porto play host to Braga at the Estadio do Dragao on Sunday.
The hosts will be seeking to get one over the visitors having failed to pick up a win in any of the most recent three meetings between the sides.
Match preview
© Reuters
Porto saw their dreams of making it to the knockout stages of the Champions League come to an end last Tuesday when they suffered a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Atletico Madrid.
In a game where Sergio Conceicao's men needed to avoid defeat to keep their chances alive, Antoine Griezmann, Angel Correa and Rodrigo de Paul scored second-half goals to put the Spanish giants in a commanding lead before Sergio Oliveira grabbed a consolation goal from the spot in the 96th minute.
Porto now return home where they have kicked off their charge to unseat reigning champions Sporting Lisbon on a good note as they currently sit at the top of the Primeira Liga standings with 35 points from 13 games.
The Dragoes are currently on a blistering run of eight straight wins in the league, scoring 25 goals and conceding five since a 1-1 draw against Sporting Lisbon on September 11.
They are also unbeaten in the league in over a year, stretching back to a 3-2 loss against Pacos de Ferreira at the Estadio Capital do Movel back in October 2020.
© Reuters
Braga, on the other hand, progressed to the knockout stages of the Europa League last time out when they played out a 1-1 draw with Serbian side Red Star Belgrade.
Following an uneventful first half, Wenderson Galeno converted his 52nd minute penalty to put the hosts ahead before Aleksandar Katai also made no mistakes from 12 yards to restore parity 18 minutes later.
Braga now turn their attention to the Primeira Liga, where they have picked up four wins from each of their last five games, with a humbling 6-1 defeat at the hands of Benfica on November 7 being the only exception.
After a slow start to the season, this upturn in form has seen Os Arcebispos rise to fourth place on the log, six points behind Benfica in the Champions League playoff spot.
This has been owing to their solid display on home turf, where they boast the league's third best record with 14 points from seven games, and their impressive performance in attack, who have netted 23 goals to date.
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
- L
- D
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
- L
- W
- L
- W
- W
- D
Team News
© Reuters
Conceicao will be unable to call upon the services of the Portuguese duo of midfielder Francisco Conceicao and goalkeeper Claudio Ramos, who have been sidelined through muscle and hip injuries respectively.
Spanish defender Ivan Marcano is set to miss his eighth consecutive game after picking up a leg problem versus Boavista back in October.
Brazilian forward Pepe missed the game against Atletico Madrid through injury last time out and remains a fitness doubt for the Dragoes.
With 17 league goals between them this season, Luis Diaz and Mehdi Taremi have been pivotal for Porto so far and we expect them to handle business at the attacking end of the pitch once again.
Braga, similarly, head into the game with several injury concerns to contend with down the spine of the team.
The defensive duo of David Carmo and Vitor Tormena are out of contention as they continue their spells on the sidelines through muscle and knee problems respectively.
Andre Castro picked up an injury in the game against Vizela on November 30 and after missing the subsequent two games, the Portuguese midfielder is a major doubt for the visitors.
Porto possible starting lineup:
Costa; Mario, Cardoso, Mbemba, Sanusi; Corona, Vitinha, Uribe, Diaz; Taremi, Evanilson
Braga possible starting lineup:
Matheus; Oliveira, Leite, Silva; Couto, A. Horta, Castro, Galeno; Medeiros, Ruiz, R. Horta
We say: Porto 1-2 Braga
Braga boasts a superior record in the recent meetings between the sides and will be seeking to maintain their run of results against the hosts. However, Porto appear simply unstoppable at the moment and we predict they will claim all three points and continue their impressive title challenge.
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 Porto win with a probability of 58.21%. A draw had a probability of 21.3% and a win for Braga had a probability of 20.48%.
The most likely scoreline for a Porto win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.9%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (8.9%) and 1-0 (8.84%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.83%), while for a Braga win it was 1-2 (5.47%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with an 8.8% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Porto would win this match.
