Vitoria de Guimaraes host Porto in the Primeira Liga on Tuesday night with both sides looking to extend their good run of form.
The visitors got their hands on the Portuguese Super Cup last time out, but that victory will not intimidate a Guimaraes side currently enjoying a three-game winning streak in the league.
Match preview
© Reuters
Os Vimaranenses are sitting in fifth position in the top-flight table after picking up an impressive 19 points from their opening 10 league matches.
A victory in midweek would see them move level on points with their opponents, who have serious aspirations of retaining their league title.
Over the summer, Joao Henriques managed to add experienced winger Ricardo Quaresma to his side's ranks, and the enigmatic 37-year-old bagged his first goal for his new side in Monday's 4-0 win over Santa Clara.
While goals have been hard to come by for Vitoria de Guimaraes this season, their success has been built on solid foundations.
They have leaked just seven league goals meaning they have the joint-best defensive record in the division, and keeping it tight at the back will be crucial if they are to get a good result on Tuesday.
The Primeira Liga's best defence will come up against the league's best attack when Porto travel to the Estadio D. Afonso Henriques.
Sergio Conceicao's side have bagged 25 goals to date with their potent attack firing them to third place, two points behind Benfica, and four behind league leaders Sporting Lisbon.
The Dragons are currently enjoying a 12-game unbeaten run, having won their last six encounters in all competitions.
Three points will be required if they are to keep pace with their nearest rivals, but they face a tough test in the shape of a Vitoria Guimaraes side that are just two places behind them in the table.
Vitoria de Guimaraes Primeira Liga form: LWLWWW
Vitoria de Guimaraes form (all competitions): DWWLDW
Porto Primeira Liga form: WLWWWW
Porto form (all competitions): WWWWWW
Team News
© Reuters
Henriques's side were already facing an injury crisis when an outbreak of coronavirus further depleted his squad.
Lyle Foster and Easah Suliman are self-isolating after returning positive COVID-19 test results meaning Guimaraes now have eight players unavailable for selection.
The pair add to Alhassan Wakaso, Matheus Mascarenhas, Joseph Amoah, Yann Aurel Bisseck, Mikel Agu and Silvio on the list of absentees for the visit of the current champions.
Porto will be without experienced centre-back Ivan Marcano and goalkeeper Mouhamed Mbaye with cruciate ligament injuries continuing to keep the pair on the sidelines.
Conceicao is unlikely to make many changes to a side in such good form and may stick with the starting lineup that defeated Benfica on Wednesday.
Vitoria de Guimaraes possible starting lineup:
Varela; Mensah, Mumin, Fernandes, Sacko; Andre, Pepelu, Almeida; Rochinha, Estupinan, Quaresma
Porto possible starting lineup:
Marchesin; Manafa, Mbemba, Pepe, Sanusi; Corona, Oliveira, Uribe, Otavio; Taremi, Marega
We say: Vitoria de Guimaraes 1-2 Porto
It should be a close encounter on Tuesday between two quality sides fighting it out in the upper echelons of the division. Porto have overcome a slow start by their high standards to hit some incredible recent form and are likely to be too just strong for Vitoria Guimaraes on this occasion.
Top betting tip
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 50.44%. A draw had a probability of 25.8% and a win for Vitoria de Guimaraes had a probability of 23.79%.
The most likely scoreline for a Porto win was 0-1 with a probability of 12.68%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (9.68%) and 1-2 (9.31%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.19%), while for a Vitoria de Guimaraes win it was 1-0 (7.98%). The actual scoreline of 2-3 was predicted with a 2.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Porto would win this match.
