High-flying Porto will be looking to take another step towards the Primeira Liga title when they welcome Portimonense to the Estadio do Dragao on Saturday.
The visitors, meanwhile, ended their run of 14 games without a win when they narrowly saw off Famalicao last weekend and be looking to build on that performance.
Match preview
© Reuters
Porto got the job done against a resilient Vitoria de Guimaraes side as they claimed a hard-fought 1-0 victory when they both squared off last weekend.
In a cagey affair at the Dom Afonso Henriques, Mehdi Taremi converted his 36th-minute strike to put the visitors ahead and despite failing to score from the spot shortly after the hour mark, the league leaders held on to see out the win.
Porto, who are unbeaten in the Primeira Liga this term, have now won five league games on the trot, scoring 13 goals and keeping four clean sheets since playing out a 1-1 draw with Gil Vicente back in February.
Their impressive title charge has been owing to the fine job done at both ends of the pitch as Sergio Conceicao's men boast the division's second best attack with 72 goals scored, while conceding just 18 to date.
Porto have won 25 and drawn four of their 29 games so far to collect 79 points and sit top of the Primeira Liga standings with a six-point lead over second-placed Sporting Lisbon.
With a highly-anticipated Taca de Portugal second-leg clash against Sporting Lisbon on the horizon, victory on Saturday could set the tone for that encounter as they look to go all the way in the competition.
© Reuters
Elsewhere, Portimonense finally gave their fans something to cheer about as they claimed a narrow 1-0 victory over Famalicao when the sides met last Sunday.
Welinton Junior's 42nd-minute strike was enough to separate the sides at the Estadio Municipal de Portimao, as the Vila Nova were condemned to their second consecutive defeat and a third in four games since the start of March.
Prior to that, Paulo Sergio's men were on a dire 14-game winless run across all competitions, losing nine and claiming five draws since beating Famalicao on penalties in the Taca de Portugal back in December.
With 32 points from 29 games, Portimonense are currently 12th in the league standings, but could rise as high as eighth should they pull off an upset and claim maximum points this weekend.
- D
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- L
- W
- D
- W
- W
- W
- D
- L
- L
- L
- L
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Having picked up an injury against Santa Clara on April 4, Mateus Uribe was absent from the trip to Vitoria de Guimaraes last weekend and the Colombian midfielder remains out of contention for Porto.
He is joined on the Dragoes' injury table by Portuguese forward Bruno Costa, who came off injured midway through the Europa League clash against Lyon on March 17.
Wilson Manafa will also play no part for Porto as the Portuguese defender continues his long road to full fitness after suffering a leg injury back in December.
Portimonense, meanwhile, will be without Lucas Possignolo, who has featured in 25 games this season, after the 27-year-old defender picked up a red card against Famalicao last weekend.
In his absence, fellow countryman Willyan Rocha should come into the XI, forming a centre-back pairing with Pedrao in front of Samuel between the sticks.
On the injury front, Sergio will be unable to call upon the services of 27-year-old midfielder Adewale Sapara, who came off injured against Benfica on March 5.
Porto possible starting lineup:
D Costa; Sanusi, Pepe, Mbemba, Mario; Vitinha, Grujic; Vieira, Otavio, Pepe; Taremi
Portimonense possible starting lineup:
Samuel; Moufi, Rocha, Pedrao, Relvas; Ewerton, Fernandes, Carlinhos; Nakajima, Angulo, Junior
We say: Porto 3-0 Portimonense
Buoyed by their win over Famalicao, Portimonense will head into the weekend with renewed confidence and look to cause an upset. However, they remain no match for an unbeaten Porto side who have won 13 of the last 14 meetings between the teams. The league leaders have dropped just four points from 14 home games this season and we predict they will keep this fine run going and come away with a comfortable win.
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 77.87%. A draw had a probability of 14.5% and a win for Portimonense had a probability of 7.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a Porto win was 2-0 with a probability of 13.23%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 3-0 (11.11%) and 1-0 (10.5%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (6.91%), while for a Portimonense win it was 0-1 (2.74%). The actual scoreline of 7-0 was predicted with a 0.5% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Porto would win this match.
