Braga will be looking to secure their place in the knockout stages of the Taca da Liga when they take on CD Nacional at Estadio da Madeira on Friday evening.
The hosts will be taking their final bow of the competition in this match as they cannot qualify from the position they are in, while Braga will need a victory by two or more goals to overtake Casa Pia into first place in Group A.
Match preview
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Nacional will wrap up their 2023-24 Taca da Liga campaign after this match, as they are four points behind Casa Pia, who they lost to by a 2-1 scoreline in the first round of the matches in group stages.
They were knocked out of this competition in the group stages last season as well, while their best-ever performance came back in the 2010-11 season when they reached the semi-final.
However, while they have not been able to secure a spot in the knockout round of this competition, their cup hopes are not completely over, as they are still standing in the Taca de Portugal with a match against Santa Clara to come early in the New Year.
Los Verdolagas head into this match off the back of a resounding 5-0 win over CF Os Belenenses last weekend, which saw them maintain third place in Liga Portugal 2, currently just three points behind league leaders Santa Clara.
While the hosts are massive outsiders here, a solid performance against a top Primeira Liga side will give them a huge boost of confidence to carry back to the league competition as they try to secure automatic qualification back to the top flight.
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Meanwhile, Braga come into this match off the back of a 1-0 loss to Benfica over the weekend and will be looking to avoid their third consecutive defeat in all competitions.
With that result, Os Arsenalistas missed out on an opportunity to move up to third place in the Primeira Liga following Porto's loss to league leaders Sporting Lisbon on Monday night at Estadio Jose Alvalade.
The visitors also lost their final group-stage match in the Champions League against Napoli last week, which saw them finish third in Group C and heading for the Europa League in the New Year.
Still, they are heavily fancied to ease into the knockout rounds with a win against a lower league opponent here but will need to do so by two goals to edge Casa Pia, who they will face next weekend in the league.
Braga have won this competition twice in the past, first in 2012-13, but they have not got past the quarter-final stage since their most recent triumph back in 2019-20.
Team News
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Tiago Margarido will be without the services of Paulo Vitor for this match as the goalkeeper will be serving the second of his three-match suspension for his straight red against Benfica II in this match.
Lucas Franca should continue between the sticks for this match, while Dudu Teodora will be eligible to return to the squad after missing the last match through suspension.
Artur Jorge has a full squad at his disposal with no injury absentees listed, although he is expected to make a few changes to the side he sent out against Benfica last weekend.
Abel Ruiz will be hoping to lead the line in this match in place of Simon Banza, while Pizzi, who scored in the first group-stage match against Casa Pia, will likely return to midfield.
Lukas Hornicek is expected to start in goal in place of Matheus, while Adrian Marin and Joe Mendes could step into the full-back roles for Cristian Borja and Victor Gomez, respectively.
Nacional possible starting lineup:
Franca; Aurelio, Gomes, Goncalves, Ulisses; Sousa, Danilovic, Esteves, Witi; Ramirez, Macedo
Braga possible starting lineup:
Hornicek; Mendes, Fonte, Saatci, Marin; Moutinho, A. Horta; R. Horta, Pizzi, Djalo; Ruiz
We say: Nacional 0-3 Braga
While Nacional have been very good in Liga Portugal 2 this season, they face a huge step up in class of opponents here and are likely to struggle to claim a point in this group. Despite Braga heading into this match following back-to-back cup and league defeats, we fancy the Primeira Liga outfit to secure the win and their place in the next round.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
