The final match of the weekend will see Sporting Braga kick off their 2024-25 Primeira Liga season with a matchup against Estrela Amadora at Estadio Municipal de Braga on Sunday evening.
Braga ended last season in fourth place with 68 points, while the visitors finished down in 14th place with 33 points in 34 matches, avoiding the relegation scrap by the slenderest of margins.
Match preview
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Braga had a mixed season in 2023-24, as they ended the league campaign one spot and 10 points worse off than they finished the previous campaign.
The club also underwent a change in leadership with Artur Jorge departing in the summer to join Botafogo in Brasileiro, with now-former Arouca boss Daniel Sousa being brought in as his successor.
On the positive, though, Os Arcebispos secured their third Taca de Liga title last season by beating Estoril Praia on penalties in the final, which granted them entry to the Europa League qualifying rounds and allowed Vitoria entry to the Conference League.
As a result, Sousa has already got his first taste of competitive action this season, as he oversaw his new side's dominant opening European qualifying round victory over Maccabi Petah Tikva, and they are currently locked 0-0 with Servette in the third qualifying round of the competition after the first leg.
Notably, Braga have not conceded a goal as yet in Europe, which is another major positive for the side after they shipped a massive 50 goals last season, which was almost double the tally that Sporting, Benfica and Porto allowed.
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Meanwhile, despite failing to reach the almost dizzying heights that fellow newly promoted Moreirense managed last season, Estrela achieved their main objective of top-flight survival and will be looking to pull further away from the drop this term.
Over the course of last season, Tricolores posted a record of seven wins, and 15 losses, while their 12 drawn matches was the joint second-most in the league alongside eighth-placed Famalicao.
Like their upcoming opponents, Estrela also saw a change in leadership over the offseason, appointing Filipe Martins as their manager for the 2024-25 season, with former coach Sergio Vieira now at Portimonense.
The major area that the new boss will need to look to improve this term will be the side's attacking output, as their 33-goal tally was the second-worst in the division last term, just two goals better than basement club Chaves.
When these sides met last season, Braga won both matches fairly comfortably, beating Estrela 4-2 on the road before claiming a commanding 3-0 victory at this venue at the start of March.
Team News
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Braga have started the new season without three first-team players in Robson Bambu, Paulo Oliveira and Simon Banza, all of whom are ruled out for the rest of this month due to injury.
Sousa has made a few notable signings this summer, bringing in the likes of Bright Arrey-Mbi, Thiago Helguera, and Amine El Ouazzani, and the latter has already opened his account for his new employers, scoring from the penalty spot in Europe at the start of the month.
Estrela, meanwhile, have brought in Andre Luiz and Alan Ruiz from Flamengo and Sport Recife respectively. Both players featured in pre-season and are expected to made their debuts this weekend.
Luiz is likely to slot into the front three, alongside last season's top-scorer Kikas and former Manchester United and Sporting Lisbon attacker Nani.
Braga possible starting lineup:
Lima; Mendes, Arrey-Mbi, Niakate, Marin; Horta, Moutinho, Zalazar; El Ouazzani, Bruma, Martinez
Estrela Amadora possible starting lineup:
Brigido; Ferro, Veiga, Drame; Lima, Cordeiro, Bucca, Ruiz; Nani, Kikas, Luiz
We say: Braga 2-0 Estrela Amadora
Braga only lost four home games last season and have already had three matches in Europe to get up to full speed this term. They also beat this opponent convincingly home and away in the last campaign and we feel they will get the new season started with a fairly comfortable win in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
