The Estadio do Dragao will play host to a thrilling friendly clash as Portuguese champions Porto go head to head with Ligue 1 side Monaco on Saturday.
The visitors head into the weekend unbeaten in each of their five pre-season games, while the Dragoes will be seeking to pick up a seventh straight victory across all competitions.
Match preview
© Reuters
Porto maintained their fine run of results in preparations for the upcoming campaign as they claimed an emphatic 5-1 victory over Arouca last Wednesday.
In a one-sided contest at Olival, Matheus Uribe, Bruno Costa, Toni Martinez, Wenderson Galeno and Danny Loader all found the target to hand the Dragoes a thrilling victory.
Prior to that, Sergio Conceicao's men kicked off their pre-season matches with a 3-0 victory against Bristol Rovers on July 14 before claiming a hard-fought 1-0 win over Portimonense five days later.
The Primeira Liga champions have now won each of their last six games across all competitions, including a 3-1 victory over Tondela in the Taca de Portugal final on May 22.
With their Portuguese Supertaca final against Tondela on the horizon, Porto will be aiming to maintain their string of sensational performances when they wrap up their pre-season outings this Saturday.
© Reuters
Meanwhile, Monaco failed to make it two wins from two last Saturday when they bottled a two-goal lead before settling for a 2-2 draw against a spirited Inter Milan side.
After trailing to goals from Aleksandr Golovin and Wissam Ben Yedder, the Italian outfit rallied and upped the ante as Roberto Gagliardini and Kristjan Asllani scored to force a share of the spoils.
Philippe Clement's side are now unbeaten in each of their five pre-season games so far, claiming three draws and picking up victories against Cercle Brugge and Portimonense respectively.
Monaco, who finished third in the Ligue 1 last season, also head into the weekend without defeat in 16 consecutive matches across all competitions, stretching back to March's 1-0 loss at Strasbourg.
Next up for the Monegasques is an opposing side who they have suffered defeats against in three of the last four meetings between the teams since 2004 — with a 1-0 victory in July 2019 being the exception.
- W
- W
- W
- W
- D
- D
- W
- D
Team News
© Reuters
Porto will be without promising youngster Francisco Conceicao after the 19-year-old forward recently completed a move to Dutch champions Ajax.
He joins the likes of Chancel Mbemba, Sergio Oliveira, Vitinha and Fabio Vieira to jump ship this summer as the mass exodus at the Estadio do Dragao continues.
However, Porto have dived into the transfer market for reinforcements, snapping up David Carmo from Braga and 25–year-old midfielder Stephen Eustaquio from Pacos de Ferreira.
Off the back of a solid display against Arouca, Conceicao could name a similar starting side on Saturday, with the likes of Bruno Costa, Matheus Uribe and the attacking duo of Evanilson and Mehdi Taremi expected to feature this weekend.
On the injury front, the Primeira Liga champions will be without Wilson Manafa, who continues his long journey to full fitness after suffering a leg problem back in December.
Meanwhile, Monaco recently secured the services of 25-year-old Breel Embolo from Borussia Monchengladbach and the Swiss forward could be handed his debut.
Defender Guillermo Maripan is a major doubt for the French side after the Chilean defender came off just before half time against Inter Milan last time out.
Clement employed the use of nine substitutes in the game against the Italian side and the 48-year-old head coach could take a similar approach this weekend in a bid to hand more players game time ahead of the upcoming campaign.
However, we expect to see familiar faces in the starting XI, including the attacking trio of Golovin, Kevin Volland and 31-year-old Ben Yedder, who netted 25 goals in Ligue 1 last season.
Porto possible starting lineup:
Costa; Sanusi, Pepe, Carmo, Mario; Uribe, Galeno, Grujic, Otavio; Evanilson, Taremi
Monaco possible starting lineup:
Nubel; Badiashile, Disasi, Matsima; Vanderson, Fofana, Matazo, Henrique; Volland, Golovin, Ben Yedder
We say: Porto 2-2 Monaco
Porto and Monaco head into the weekend in fine form and this makes for a thrilling and exciting watch. While the full-time result remains unimportant, we expect both sides to take the game to each other and do just enough to leave with a share of the spoils.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
