Fresh off the back of their Champions League defeat against Inter Milan, Porto return to action in the Primeira Liga when they go head to head with Gil Vicente on Sunday.
Having failed to win any of the last eight meetings between the sides since August 2019, the Gilistas will head to the Estadio do Dragao looking to get one over the hosts.
Match preview
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Porto's dreams of a second Champions League quarter-final appearance in three years suffered a blow as they fell to a 1-0 loss against Inter Milan at San Siro on Wednesday.
In a game where Otavio received his marching orders, Porto were four minutes away from returning to Portugal with a draw when Romelu Lukaku tucked home the match-winner to hand the Nerazzurri a vital first-leg victory.
This was a first defeat in 23 matches for Sergio Conceico's side, who had racked up 19 victories and three draws across all competitions since a 1-0 loss against Benfica in the O Classico on October 21.
In that time, the Dragoes secured their first Taca da Liga title courtesy of a 2-0 win over rivals Sporting Lisbon on January 28 and booked their place in the semi-finals of the Taca de Portugal thanks to a 1-0 win over Academico Viseu on February 8.
Porto head into the weekend seeking to pick up a seventh consecutive Primeira Liga victory while they are without defeat in their last 11 league outings — the current longest unbeaten run in the division.
This blistering run has seen the 30-time Portuguese champions close the gap on league leaders Benfica to five points as they sit second in the standings with 51 points from 21 matches.
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While Gil Vicente failed in their bid to secure successive league wins for just the second time this season last weekend, they kept their unbeaten home run in 2023 intact as they played out a 1-1 draw with Vizela.
Following a goalless first half at the Estadio Cidade de Barcelos, Brazilian midfielder Vitor Carvalho broke the deadlock to hand the hosts a 55th-minute lead before Kiki Afonso struck in the 87th minute to force a share of the spoils.
Daniel Sousa's men have now gone five consecutive matches without defeat at home, claiming three wins and two draws since November's 4-1 loss against Arouca in round four of the Taca de Portugal.
Gil Vicente have now picked up six wins, five draws and lost 10 of their 21 matches this season to collect 23 points and sit 14th in the Primeira Liga table, but could potentially move level on points with eighth-placed Chaves with a win this weekend.
However, standing in their way is a Porto side who are unbeaten in eight consecutive meetings between the sides, claiming seven wins and one draw — and have lost just two of their last 20 encounters since January 2011.
Team News
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Porto will take to the pitch without Brazilian forward Gabriel Veron, who has missed each of the last seven matches through an ankle injury.
Twenty-one-year-old goalkeeper Francisco Meixedo is also recuperating from a severe ligament injury and will not be involved this weekend.
Toni Martinez was an unused substitute in the midweek defeat to Inter Milan, but the Spanish forward could return to the XI, teaming up with strike partner Mehdi Taremi, who leads Porto this season with 11 league goals under his belt.
Meanwhile, Gil Vicente remain without the long-absent Lucas Barros, who has been out of action since last May when he sustained an ACL injury.
Experienced striker Ali Alipour and goalkeeper Stanislav Kritsyuk came off with first-half injuries against Famalicao a fortnight ago and will play no part in Sunday's game.
Porto possible starting lineup:
Costa; Mario, Pepe, Marcano, Wendell; Franco, Grujic, Eustaquio, Pepe; Taremi, Martinez
Gil Vicente possible starting lineup:
Andrew; Carraca, Araujo, Fernandes, Marin; Aburjania, Tiba; Souza, Fujimoto, Boselli; Navarro
We say: Porto 3-0 Gil Vicente
Following their midweek Champions League defeat, Porto will be looking to put together a fine run of form and build momentum ahead of March's return leg. Conceicao's men have been near impenetrable on home turf this season and we are backing them to return to winning ways this weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
