Fresh off the back of reaching the round of 16 of the Taca de Portugal, Porto take a trip to the Estadio do Bessa to square off against Boavista in round 13 of the Primeira Liga on Saturday.
The home side, meanwhile, head into the weekend on a run of six consecutive games without victory across all competitions and will be looking to end this dry spell.
Match preview
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Boavista continue to struggle for results away from home as they were condemned to a 1-0 defeat by Rio Ave when the sides squared off last Sunday.
In a cagey affair at the Estadio dos Arcos, Ghanaian forward Emmanuel Boateng netted his fourth goal in six games four minutes after the hour mark to hand the Vilacondenses their third straight home victory.
Boavista have now lost each of their last four away games across all competitions, including a shock 1-0 defeat at the hands of Campeonato de Portugal outfit AD Machio in the third round of the Taca de Portugal on October 16.
While Petit's men have struggled to get going on the road, they now return home where they are currently on a run of four consecutive games without defeat — claiming two wins and two draws — and have lost just one of their last eight matches across all competitions since the start of May.
Boavista, who head into the weekend on a run of four defeats and two draws in their most recent six matches, are currently ninth in the Primeira Liga standings, but could potentially rise level on 20 points with sixth-placed Vitoria de Guimaraes with all three points this weekend.
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Porto, on the other hand, cruised through to the round of 16 of the Taca de Portugal as they claimed a 3-0 victory over Segunda Liga outfit Mafra when the sides locked horns on Tuesday.
In a one-sided affair at the Estadio Municipal de Mafra, Ivan Marcano, Stephen Eustaquio and Wenderson Galeno all found the back of the net to hand the visitors a comfortable victory.
Porto head into the weekend on a run of three consecutive wins, including a 2-1 victory over Atletico Madrid in Group B of the Champions League on November 1, while they have picked up four wins and one draw in their last five matches since October's 1-0 loss against Benfica.
Sergio Conceicao's side now turn their attention to the Primeira Liga, where they have picked up eight wins, two draws and lost two of their 12 matches to collect 26 points and sit second in the league standings, eight points off first-placed Benfica.
The Dragoes will fancy their chances of picking up a fourth win on the bounce on Saturday as they take on a Boavista side against whom they are unbeaten against in the last 17 meetings, picking up an impressive 15 wins and two draws since September 2014.
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Team News
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Portuguese starlet Martim Tavares was forced off with a leg injury 39 minutes into the game against Vizela on October 30 and the 19-year-old is out of contention for Boavista.
In his absence, Yusupha Njie, who has four goal involvements in seven matches this season, should spearhead the attack once again, alongside Masaki Watai and Salvador Agra.
At the opposite end of the pitch, Bruno Onyemaechi, Vincent Sasso and Reggie Cannon should retain their roles in the back four, with 41-yea-old Rafael Bracali starting between the sticks once again.
The trio of former defender Pepe, midfielder Otavio and goalkeeper Diogo Costa have been named in the Portugal squad for the upcoming World Cup, but Pepe is expected to sit out this weekend's encounter as he continues his recovery from a knee injury.
Nigerian full-back Zaidu Sanusi is set to sit out his third consecutive game through a groin problem, while 20-year-old Gabriel Veron has missed each of the last four matches after coming off injured against Porto on October 26.
Mehdi Taremi, who has six goals and four assists in 12 league matches, was rested against Mafra last time out and the 30-year-old forward should return to the XI, teaming up with strike partner Evanilson in the front two.
Boavista possible starting lineup:
Bracali; Cannon, Sasso, Onyemaechi; Malheiro, Vukotic, Perez, Mangas; Agra, Njie, Watai
Porto possible starting lineup:
Costa; Conceicao, Cardoso, Marcano, Wendell; Otavio, Eustaquio, Uribe, Pepe; Evanilson, Taremi
We say: Boavista 0-3 Porto
Porto have put together a fine run of results in recent weeks and head into the weekend with four wins and one draw in their last five matches. Given the gulf in quality and experience between the two sides and their contrasting form, we are backing Conceicao's men to come away with a comfortable victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
