Portugal Campeonato Nacional - Match Prediction: FC Porto VS Sporting Braga

Match Time：3/4/2021 04:15 Thursday  (GMT+8)

Portugal Campeonato Nacional --  FC Porto   VS   Sporting Braga

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Aiming to reach their third consecutive Taca de Portugal final, Porto welcome Braga to the Estadio do Dragao on Wednesday. Braga have not appeared in the final of this tournament since 2016 when they beat Porto on penalties to win their second-ever title.

 

Match preview

Porto were involved in a share of the spoils for the third league game running as they held Sporting Lisbon to a goalless draw on Saturday. Sergio Conceicao's men had an opportunity to close the 10-point gap between themselves and the league leaders, but they were unable to do so.They head into their semi-final second leg off the back of a 1-1 draw in the first leg at the Estadio Municipal de Braga three weeks ago.Azuis e Brancos took the lead in the ninth minute through Mehdi Taremi, before that advantage was wiped out in the 12th minute of added time when Fransergio stuck to even the contest.The tie remains firmly in the balance, and the home team will look to take an important step towards success in what is perhaps their best shot at silverware this season. Braga were the biggest beneficiaries of Porto's weekend result as they moved above the latter into second place on the log courtesy of a 2-1 win over Nacional on Sunday.Carlos Carvalhal's men bounced back from a 3-1 loss to Roma in the Europa League three days earlier which signalled the end of their journey.Back home, Os Arcebispos are nine points behind Sporting Lisbon in the race for the title and with 13 games left to play, they have an outside chance of being crowned champions.In the meantime, securing a place in May's showdown is the target, but they have lost four of their last five games away at Wednesday's hosts.

 

Porto Taca de Portugal form: WWWW

Porto form (all competitions): DDDWWD

 

Braga Taca de Portugal form: WWWW

Braga form (all competitions): DWLWLW

 

Team News

Luis Diaz and Mateus Uribe were both sent off in the first leg, but they are eligible to feature once again after serving their suspensions.After almost a year out with a knee problem, Ivan Marcano returned to action on Saturday albeit with the reserve team as he works his way back to full fitness.Mouhamed Mbaye has not featured for the home team since last July when he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament a few minutes after coming on as a substitute.Like Mbaye, Braga's Francisco Moura and Rui Fonte have also suffered ACL injuries, and they will not play any part in the game.David Carmo is the away side's only other absentee after he hobbled off with an ankle injury in the most recent meeting between the teams.

 

Porto possible starting lineup:

Marchesin; Sanusi, Pepe, Mbemba, Manafa; Uribe, Vieira, Otavio; Diaz, Marega, Corona

 

Braga possible starting lineup:

Magalhaes; Esgaio, Rodrigues, Tormena, Borja; Galeno, Fransergio, Musrati, Horta; Ruiz, Piazon

 

Porto VS Braga

Porto 2-1 Braga