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Braga
Primeira Liga | Gameweek 22
Mar 9, 2021 at 9.45pm UK
Estadio Municipal
Vitoria de Guimaraes

Braga
3 - 0
Guimaraes

Piazon (5'), Ruiz (40'), Sporar (85')
Piazon (42')
FT(HT: 2-0)

Ouattara (2'), Andre (59')

Preview: Braga vs. Vitoria de Guimaraes - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Tuesday's Primeira Liga clash between Braga and Vitoria de Guimaraes, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Braga will be looking to record a fourth consecutive league victory on Tuesday, when they welcome Vitoria de Guimaraes to the Estadio Municipal de Braga.

Carlos Carvalhal's men advanced to the Taca de Portugal final last time out with a second-leg victory over Porto, while their strong run of league form has seen them rise to third in the Primeira Liga table.


Match preview

Braga head coach Carlos Carvalhal pictured in December 2020© Reuters

The hosts recorded an impressive win last time out, as they went into the away leg of their Taca de Portugal semi-final tie against Porto with the game balanced at 1-1 after the first leg.

Carvalhal's men enjoyed a great start to the match, leading 3-0 after 28 minutes thanks to an Abel Ruiz brace and a Lucas Piazon strike, but a Porto goal through Otavio and a red card to Cristian Borja before half time made their task tougher.

However, Os Arcebispos held onto their victory, despite a Moussa Marega goal for Porto, as they saw out a 4-3 win on aggregate to see them through to the final of the competition.

Braga have enjoyed a good run of form in the top flight too, winning their last three games and six of their last seven matches, drawing the other with Porto.

Carvalhal's side secured a 2-1 win away at Nacional in their last league outing, as Fransergio and Ruiz found the net in the first half, before Brayan Riascos pulled a goal back for the hosts with 20 minutes to go.

Their recent run has seen the Archbishops move up to third in the Primeira Liga, sitting just two points behind second-placed Porto and four points ahead of Benfica.

Carvalhal will have his sights set on a fourth consecutive league win on Tuesday night, as his side look to cement themselves in the top three.

However, that will not be a simple task for Braga, as they take on a Vitoria de Guimaraes side who got back to winning ways last time out and will have some renewed confidence.

A general shot of Marcus Edwards celebrating with teammates for Vitoria de Guimaraes in June 2020© Reuters

Joao Henriques's men recorded an important victory last Friday, when they hosted strugglers Boavista.

Ricardo Mangas put the visitors ahead, but goals from Diogo Rochinha and Andre Andre turned the game around and sealed a 10th league win of the campaign for Os Vimaranenses.

That put an end to a run of five top-flight games without a victory for the side from Guimaraes, having picked up just three points from those matches.

Despite that poor run of form, Vitoria still sit comfortably in sixth spot in the Primeira Liga, remaining six points behind fifth-placed Pacos de Ferreira and six points ahead of seventh-placed Moreirense.

Henriques will be hoping that his side can build on that last victory here, as they look to record a second consecutive win in league action.

Braga Primeira Liga form:
  • W
  • W
  • D
  • W
  • W
  • W

Braga form (all competitions):
  • W
  • L
  • W
  • L
  • W
  • W

Vitoria de Guimaraes Primeira Liga form:
  • D
  • D
  • L
  • D
  • L
  • W


Team News

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

Braga's injury list has continued to grow in the last few weeks, as Andre Castro, Nuno Sequeira and David Carmo have all recently been sidelined.

They are joined by young winger Iuri Medeiros, who remains out of contention with a knee injury, as well as Francisco Moura.

Carvalhal will also be without defender Cristian Borja, who will serve a suspension after he was shown a red card in the cup win over Porto last time out.

Their line will be led by Abel Ruiz, who will come into this game with confidence having netted three goals in his last two games.

Vitoria remain without several midfield options, as Jacob Maddox and Joseph Amoah continue their long-term spells out with injuries.

They are joined by experienced full-back Silvio, who is yet to feature since the turn of the year due to a knee injury.

Forward Marcus Edwards has recently fought his way back into the starting team for Vitoria, joining Oscar Estupinan and Diogo Rochinha in the front three.

Meanwhile, January signing Ruben Lameiras has struggled to hit the ground running at his new club, failing to score since his move from Famalicao.

Braga possible starting lineup:
Matheus; Tormena, Silva, Rodrigues; Esgaio, Elmusrati, Fransergio, Galeno; Piazon, Ruiz, Horta

Vitoria de Guimaraes possible starting lineup:
Varela; Ouattara, Fernandes, Mumin, Mensah; Andre, Pepelu, Almeida; Edwards, Estupinan, Rochinha


SM words green background

We say: Braga 2-1 Vitoria de Guimaraes

While the visitors will feel a boost of confidence after an important win last time out, we see Braga continuing their strong run of form with another win in this game.

The confident front line should give them the edge, as Abel Ruiz and Lucas Piazon both come into this game in good goalscoring form.



Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals 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.Under 3.5:data


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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 53.74%. A draw had a probability of 23.9% and a win for Vitoria de Guimaraes had a probability of 22.37%.

The most likely scoreline for a Braga win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.16%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.74%) and 2-0 (9.57%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.35%), while for a Vitoria de Guimaraes win it was 0-1 (6.62%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 5.5% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Braga would win this match.


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rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Sporting Lisbon25212275255065
2Benfica26204260213964
3Porto26184450183258
4Braga26165555342153
5Vitoria de GuimaraesGuimaraes26155641271450
6MoreirenseMoreirense2612682827142
7AroucaArouca26104124337634
8FamalicaoFamalicao2561092430-628
9Gil Vicente2677123539-428
10BoavistaBoavista2677123351-1828
11Casa Pia2676132339-1627
12SC FarenseFarense2676133438-427
13Estrela Amadora2668122639-1326
14Estoril PraiaEstoril2674154249-725
15Rio AveRio Ave2641392635-925
16PortimonensePortimonense2665152453-2923
17Vizela2649132652-2621
18ChavesChaves2647152556-3119


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