Vitoria de Guimaraes set out in search of a fourth victory on the bounce when they go head to head with Porto in round four of the Portuguese Primeira Liga on Saturday.
The Dragoes have won each of their last seven visits to the Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques since January 2021 and will head into the weekend looking to extend this dominant four-year run.
Match preview
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Vitoria de Guimaraes continued their fine early-season form as they picked up a comfortable 2-0 victory over 10-man Braga when the two teams squared off at the Estadio Braga Municipal last Sunday.
In a game where Bright Arrey-Mbi received his marching orders, the visitors made use of their numerical advantage as Joao Mendes and Tomas Ribeiro both scored second-half goals to condemn Braga their first defeat of the season.
Vitoria de Guimaraes now won all but one of their 11 games across all competitions to start the season — scoring 23 goals and keeping nine clean sheets — with a 1-0 defeat against AVS at the Estadio do Desportivo das Aves on August 25 being the only exception.
This blistering start has seen Rui Borges' men book their spot in the new-look Europa Conference League group phase as they brushed aside Floriana and FC Zurich before storming to an emphatic 7-0 aggregate victory over Bosnian outfit Zrinjski Mostar in August's playoff.
Vitoria Guimaraes head into Saturday having claimed 12 points from the first 15 available this season to sit third in the Primeira Liga standings, level on points with Saturday's hosts and three points off first-placed Sporting Lisbon.
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Porto, on the other hand, had to work their socks off last Sunday as they picked up a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Farense when the two sides squared off at the Estadio do Dragao.
With nothing to separate the sides at half time, Porto drew first blood three minutes into the second half courtesy of a penalty from Wanderson Galeno, and after Tomane restored parity in the 51st minute, Samuel Omorodion netted in the 75th minute to hand the hosts all three points.
Prior to that, Vitor Bruno's men saw their 15-game winning streak across all competitions come to an end on August 31, when they fell to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of rivals Sporting Lisbon courtesy of second-half goals from Viktor Gyokeres and Geny Catamo.
Porto will now look to continue from where they left off against Farense and avoid losing back-to-back Primeira Liga away games for the first time since suffering defeats against Pacos de Ferreira and Belenenses four years ago.
This should be relatively easy task for the Dragoes who journey to the Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques, where they are on a seven-game winning streak and are unbeaten in their last 10 visits, claiming nine wins and one draw since a 1-0 loss in January 2016.
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Team News
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Vitoria de Guimaraes will take to the pitch without the services of 27-year-old defender Jorge Fernandes, who is set to sit out his third consecutive game through injury.
Off the back of a solid team display against Braga, Borges could name a similar starting XI this weekend, with Bruno Gaspar, Toni Borevkovic, Mikel Villanueva and 24-year-old defender Joao Mendes forming the back four once again.
Twenty-nine-year-old forward Mendes got off the mark in the league with his goal last weekend and the former Chaves man should lead the hosts' attack once again, alongside Kaio Cesar and 33-year-old Nelson Oliveira.
Fabio Vieira, who completed a loan switch from Arsenal in the summer, continues to wait for his Porto debut as he has been sidelined through a groin injury.
He is joined on the Dragoes' injury table by the defensive duo of 37-year-old Ivan Marcano and Nigerian full-back Zaidu Sanusi, who have been ruled out through knee injuries.
With his strike against Farense, Galeno now has four goals in the first five games and will be one to keep an eye on, while Omorodion could be rewarded with a starting role after his impressive cameo.
Vitoria de Guimaraes possible starting lineup:
Varela; Gaspar, Borevkovic, Villanueva, Mendes; Silva, Handel, Santos; Cesar, Oliveira, Mendes
Porto possible starting lineup:
Costa; Moura, Otavio, Perez, Galeno; Mario, Varela; Pepe, Gonzalez, Jaime; Namaso
We say: Vitoria de Guimaraes 1-3 Porto
While Guimaraes have put together a fine run of form, they have their work cut out against a stacked Porto side who have won 16 of their last 17 matches in all competitions. Bruno's men boast a solid away record in this fixture, and given the gulf in quality between the two teams, we are backing them to come away with all three points this weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
