Moreirense and Porto return to action in the fourth round of the Taca de Portugal when they go head to head at the Parque de Jogos Comendador Joaquim de Almeida Freitas on Sunday.
This will be the second cup clash between the two sides within the last four weeks, with the Dragoes cruising to a comfortable victory in their Taca da Liga quarter-final clash on October 30.
Match preview
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Moreirense turned in a resilient display in their final outing before the international break as they scored three goals in a 22-minute spell versus Gil Vicente to overturn a two-goal deficit at the Parque de Jogos Comendador Joaquim de Almeida Freitas.
Tidjany Toure and Jorge Aguirre both hit the target to put the visitors in a comfortable two-goal lead heading into the final half-hour but Guillermo Schettine, Dinis Pinto and Luis Asue all scored in a 27-minute spell to turn the game on its head.
Before that, Moreirense saw their run of three consecutive defeats come to an end on October 31, when they fell to a 2-0 defeat against Porto in the Taca da Liga, three days before losing 1-0 at the hands of Vitoria de Guimaraes on their return to league action.
Cesar Peixoto's men have now won five of their 11 Primeira Liga matches while losing four and claiming two draws to collect 17 points and sit eighth in the league standings, level on points with seventh-placed Famalicao.
Moreirense now turn their focus to the Taca de Portugal, when they avoided an upset in their opening game as they fought back from behind to secure a 2-1 victory over their-tier Uniao Santarem in the third round on October 19 courtesy of goals from Bernardo Martins and Guilherme Schettine.
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Elsewhere, Porto suffered back-to-back defeats for the first time since October 2023 as they were thrashed 4-1 by rivals Benfica in the latest edition of the heated O Classico just before the international break.
Alvaro Carreras and Samuel Omorodion both found the back of the net to end the first half all square before Angel Di Maria netted either side of Nehuen Perez's 61st-minute own goal to fire Benfica to an emphatic win.
This followed a 2-1 loss at the hands of Italian outfit Lazio in the Europa League on November 7, when former Barcelona and Chelsea forward Pedro struck 92nd-minute at the Stadio Olimpico to fire the hosts a dramatic victory.
Vitor Bruno's men, who currently sit second in the Primeira Liga standings, now return to action in the Taca de Portugal, where made light work of Sintrense in the third round as they secured a 3-0 victory over the Campeonato de Portugal outfit to knock off their title defence on October 20.
Having picked up a 2-1 extra-time victory over Sporting Lisbon in the final back in May, Wanderson Galeno, Ivan Jaime and Tiago Djalo all found the back of the net at the Estadio Jose Gomes to hand Porto a dream start to their title defence.
The Dragoes will be backing themselves to stop the rot this weekend as they go up against an opposing side who have lost each of their most recent five encounters and are without a win in any of their last 15 since a 3-1 victory in May 2017.
Team News
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Moreirense will have to cope without Portuguese forward Hernani Infande, who has been out of action since picking up a ligament problem in March's game against Arouca.
He is joined on the club's injury table by Brazilian midfielder Guilherme Liberato, who has missed the last eight matches through an ACL injury, while defender Alhassane Sylla continues his lengthy spell on the sidelines.
With his strike against Gil Vicente, Schettine now has four goal contributions in his last six matches and we expect the summer signing to spearhead the hosts' attack this weekend.
As for Porto, they head into the weekend with a fair share of injury concerns as the likes of Fran Navarro, Otavio and Spanish striker Jaime continue their spells on the sidelines.
Nigerian defender Zaidu Sanusi and 37-year-old Ivan Marcano have been sidelined through ACL injuries while Wendell and experienced midfielder Marko Grujic are recuperating from muscle problems.
Moreirense possible starting lineup:
Kewin; Pinto, Marcelo, Ponck, Frimpong; Ismael, Ofori; Benny, Alanzinho, Madson; Schettine
Porto possible starting lineup:
Costa; Fernandes, Djalo, Perez, Moura; Eustaquio, Varela; Vieira, Gonzalez, Galeno; Omorodion
We say: Moreirense 1-3 Porto
Having suffered two straight defeats before the break, Porto will be looking to find their feet in the cup and secure a morale-boosting result ahead of their Europa League clash against Anderlecht next Thursday.
While Moreirense will be looking to continue from where they left off against the Gilistas, Bruno's side boast the firepower needed to get the job done and we are backing them to come away with the desired result here.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
