Fresh off the back of a 3-1 victory over rivals Benfica, Porto will be seeking to pick up their 12th league win on the trot when they visit the Estadio Antonio Coimbra da Mota to lock horns with Estoril Praia on Saturday.
The hosts, on the other hand, have lost each of the last seven meetings between the teams since 2014 and will head into the game desperate to put an end to this poor run.
Match preview
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Estoril Praia continue to struggle for form in the Primeira Liga as they fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat at the hands of Moreirense on December 28 at the Parque de Jogos Comendador Joaquim de Almeida Freitas.
Despite seeing over 67% of the ball possession, the visitors were made to rue their lack of cutting-edge in attack as Rafael Martins struck the only goal of the game shortly before the half-hour mark to hand the hosts their first win in four games.
Prior to that, Bruno Pinheiro's men saw their Taca de Portugal campaign come to an end on December 21, when they threw away a one-goal lead to suffer a 3-1 defeat against Tondela at the Estadio Joao Cardoso.
Estoril Praia have now picked up just one win from their most recent five games in all competitions, while they are winless in all but one of their last seven Primeira Liga outings, losing twice and claiming four draws in that time.
With six wins, seven draws and three defeats, the newly-promoted side have enjoyed an impressive start to life in the big leagues as they sit fifth in the Primeira Liga standings after claiming 25 points from 16 games.
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Meanwhile, Porto continued their challenge to unseat reigning champions Sporting Lisbon as they secured a comfortable 3-1 victory over Benfica when the sides squared off at the Estadio do Dragao on December 30.
In a game where Andre Almeida received his marching orders, after Fabio Vieira and Pepe netted to put the hosts in front heading into half time, Roman Yaremchuk pulled one back for Benfica one minute after the interval but Mehdi Taremi ended his 11-game goal drought in the 69th minute to restore Porto's two-goal advantage.
This was a second consecutive victory over As Aguias after Brazilian forward Evanilson turned in a superb first-half performance as he scored either side of Vitinha's seventh-minute strike to hand Sergio Conceicao's side a comprehensive 3-0 victory in the last-16 of the Taca de Portugal one week earlier.
Porto now won each of their most recent five games across all competitions, scoring 12 goals and keeping four clean sheets since a 3-1 loss at the hands of Spanish powerhouse Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on December 7.
The Drageos, who are currently level on 44 points with Sporting Lisbon at the summit of the Primeira Liga standings, are currently on a blistering 11-game winning run in the league, while they are unbeaten in each of their 16 games so far, claiming 14 wins and two draws.
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Team News
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Lucas Africo is out of contention for Estoril Praia as he continues his lengthy spell on the sidelines after sustaining a season-ending muscle injury in November's game against Vizela.
After his booking versus Moreirense last time out, 26-year-old midfielder Francisco Geraldes has now crossed the yellow card threshold and will serve a one-game suspension.
Porto, on the other hand, have several concerns to contend with on the injury front as the Portuguese duo of Wilson Manafa and Joao Mario have been sidelined through leg and muscle injuries respectively.
Spanish defender Ivan Marcano has been out of action since picking up a leg injury back in October, while Marko Grujic is set to miss his fifth consecutive game through a muscle problem.
Colombian international Luis Diaz, who has been heavily linked with a move away from the Estadio do Dragao, will also play no part for the visitors after recently testing positive for COVID-19.
Conceicao will also have to make do with the absence of the defensive duo of Nanu and Zaidu Sanusi who are currently on international duty with Guinea-Bissau and Nigeria respectively at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Estoril Praia possible starting lineup:
Silva; Bruno, Farraresi, Patrick, Joaozinho; Loreintz, Gamboa, Franco; Gomes, Fonte, Xavier
Porto possible starting lineup:
Costa; Oliveira, Cardoso, Mbemba, Wendell; Corona, Vitinha, Uribe, Diaz; Taremi, Evanilson
We say: Estoril Praia 0-3 Porto
After a sensational start to life in the top flight, Estoril Praia have wobbled in recent weeks, managing just one win from their last seven league outings. They now face the daunting task of going up against a rampant Porto side who have won each of their last 11 league games and are unbeaten so far this season. Porto appear simply unstoppable at the moment and we are tipping them to cruise to a comfortable win on Saturday.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
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 Porto win with a probability of 73.48%. A draw had a probability of 17.1% and a win for Estoril Praia had a probability of 9.43%.
The most likely scoreline for a Porto win was 0-2 with a probability of 13.7%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (12.16%) and 0-3 (10.29%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.1%), while for a Estoril Praia win it was 1-0 (3.59%). The actual scoreline of 2-3 was predicted with a 2.3% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Porto would win this match.
