Newly-promoted SC Farense travel to Braga in the Primeira Liga on Sunday, hoping to secure back-to-back victories for the first time this season.

Braga, meanwhile, have accumulated 15 points from their opening seven matches and currently sit four points behind Sporting Lisbon at the top of the table.

Match preview

Braga's Paulinho celebrates scoring against Leicester City in the Europa League on November 26, 2020 © Reuters

Jamie Vardy's 95th-minute equaliser for Leicester City earned the visitors a point in an entertaining 3-3 draw against Braga in the Europa League on Thursday night.

A point for Braga keeps the Portuguese side in with a good chance of progressing to the knockout stages and they now turn their attention back to the Primeira Liga.

Braga managed to break into the top three for the first time since 2011-12 last season but after a strong start to this campaign, they may believe that they can aim higher.

Despite losing their opening two matches, Carlos Carvalhal's side have since won five league games in a row, including a surprise 3-2 away victory at Benfica and now sit second place in the league table.

Victory on Sunday would be their sixth win in a row – their longest winning run since 2012, when they won 13 consecutive league matches.

Carlos Carvalhal, now in charge of Sporting Braga, pictured in June 2020 © Reuters

Farense secured their first top-flight victory of the campaign in their last league outing, after beating Boavista 3-1, which moved them off the foot of the table into 16th place.

Two goals in three minutes from Nikola Stojiljkovic and Eduardo Mancha gave Farense a two-goal cushion which they were able to hold on to, despite Boavista dominating possession.

Sergio Vieira's side have lost four of their opening seven matches since returning to the Primeira Liga after 19 years away, but they do seem to have been competitive in every match they have played so far.

Farense, who came close to snatching a point in the 3-2 away loss at Benfica, will take confidence going into their match with Braga and hope that they can get a positive result.

Victory against the hosts would see Farense go three league matches unbeaten and move into the top 10.

Braga Primeira Liga form: LWWWWW
Braga form (all competitions): WWLWWD

SC Farense Primeira Liga form: LLDLDW
SC Farense form (all competitions): LLDLDW

Team News

Braga's David Carmo in action against Benfica in the Primeira Liga on February 15, 2020 © Reuters

Braga midfielder Ricardo Horta, who came off injured after three minutes against Leicester in midweek, is doubtful for Sunday's match, as is winger Nicolas Gaitan.

Central defender David Carmo is back from suspension and is expected to start alongside Bruno Viana.

Farense midfielder Pedro Henrique is suspended, while Fabio Nunes remains out injured which means left-back Abner will keep his place in the starting lineup.

Former Dundee United and Sporting Lisbon winger Ryan Gauld, who has two goals and three assists this campaign, is likely to start on the right-wing.

Braga possible starting lineup:
Matheus; Esgaio, Viana, Carmo, Sequeira; Medeiros, Castro, Musrati, Galeno; Paulinho, Schettine

SC Farense possible starting lineup:
Defendi; Pinto, Falcao, Mancha, Nunes; Isidoro, Oudrhir; Gauld, Aouacheria, Mansilla; Stojiljkovic

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We say: Braga 2-0 SC Farense

Despite the visitors' success in last weekend's first league victory, Braga are likely to bring them back down to earth and win their third home match of the season.

Top betting tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a home win 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.

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 Braga win with a probability of 61.33%. A draw had a probability of 21.5% and a win for SC Farense had a probability of 17.15%.

The most likely scoreline for a Braga win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.18%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.84%) and 2-1 (9.91%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.22%), while for a SC Farense win it was 0-1 (5.27%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with an 11.2% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for Braga in this match.