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

Porto will be looking to make it five straight wins in all competitions when they continue their Primeira Liga campaign away to Moreirense on Monday night.

The visitors are currently second in the table, four points behind leaders Sporting Lisbon, while Moreirense, who have only won one of their last six in Portugal's top flight, occupy eighth position.

Match preview

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Moreirense have been present in the top flight of Portuguese football since 2014-15, and they have made steps forward in the last two campaigns, finishing sixth in 2018-19 before claiming eighth last term.

The Green and Whites were not particularly expected to push further up the division this season and that has proved to be the case, with a total of 35 points from 28 matches leaving them in eighth spot in the division.

There is not an awful lot for Vasco Seabra's side to play for at this stage of the season as they are comfortably clear of the relegation zone and some way off the European spots, but a win here could potentially move them level on points with sixth-placed Vitoria Guimaraes.

Moreirense have only won one of their last six in the league, though, and shared the points with Santa Clara on Wednesday evening, with the draw following a 3-2 home defeat to Tondela last weekend.

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Porto, on the other hand, have plenty to play for in the final weeks of the campaign as they look to hold off the challenge of the teams behind them and also catch leaders Sporting.

As it stands, the gap from second-placed Porto to Sporting is four points, although the team currently at the summit would stretch the advantage to seven points if they beat Braga on Sunday night.

The Dragons are bidding to make it back-to-back Portuguese titles, and they have won the Primeira Liga in two of the last three campaigns, showing their recent dominance at this level of football.

Sergio Conceicao's team will enter Monday's contest off the back of a 1-0 win over Vitoria on Thursday evening, with Moussa Marega scoring the only goal early in the second period.

Porto, who were recently knocked out of the Champions League by Chelsea, have actually now won their last seven in the league and are unbeaten in the Primeira Liga since the end of October.

Team News

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Moreirense will have Steven Vitoria available once again following a one-match suspension, but Pedro Nuno, Sori Mane and Pedro Amador are all still on the sidelines through injury.

Vitoria is expected to return to the middle of the defence alongside Lazar Rosic, but the majority of the side that started the goalless draw with Santa Clara should feature once again.

Indeed, Rafael Martins, who is the team's leading goalscorer in the league this term with six goals, is likely to be joined in the final third of the field by Filipe Soares.

As for Porto, backup goalkeeper Mouhamed Mbaye is still unavailable for selection through injury, but the champions are otherwise in excellent shape.

Nanu was given the nod at right-back on Thursday evening and should retain his spot in the side, and Conceicao could decide to send the exact same starting XI onto the field.

Marega and Mehdi Taremi have scored 18 league goals between them this term and should continue as the front two, while there will be another start for Sergio Oliveira, who has managed 12 goals and six assists in 27 Primeira Liga outings during the 2020-21 campaign.

Moreirense possible starting lineup:

Pasinato; D'Alberto, Rosic, Vitoria, Conte; Walterson, Pacheco, Franco, Pires; Soares, Martins

Porto possible starting lineup:

Marchesin; Nanu, Mbemba, Pepe, Manafa; Corona, Oliveira, Uribe, Otavio; Marega, Taremi

We say: Moreirense 0-2 Porto

Moreirense are certainly more than capable of making this a tricky match for Porto, who simply have to keep winning if they want to rise to the summit; we are expecting a relatively close game on Monday but fully expect the visitors to put another three points on the board.