Fresh off the back of a vital first-leg win over Rangers in the Europa League, Braga lock horns with Vizela at the Estadio do FC Vizela in round 29 of the Primeira Liga on Sunday.
Carlos Carvalhal's men have won each of their most recent three outings and will be seeking a fourth consecutive victory for the first time since February 2021.
Match preview
© Reuters
Vizela continue to steer clear of the relegation places as they picked up a hard-earned 2-1 victory over a resilient Estoril Praia side last Saturday.
Portuguese forward Kiko Bondoso put on a clinic at the Estadio Antonio Coimbra da Mota as he scored either side of Leonardo Ruiz's 35th-minute equaliser to hand the hosts a second straight defeat.
Prior to that, Alvaro Pacheco's side were on a seven-game winless run, claiming four draws and losing three, while scoring seven goals and shipping 11 in that time.
With 29 points from 28 games, the Vizelenses are currently 13th in the Primeira Liga standings, level on points with 12th-placed Portimonense and four above Tondela in the relegation playoff spot.
Vizela's struggles this season have come at the defensive end of the pitch, where they have managed just two clean sheets and conceded 46 goals to date — with only Arouca and Tondela conceding more.
© Reuters
Elsewhere, Braga placed one foot in the semi-finals of the Europa League as they claimed a 1-0 victory over Rangers when the sides squared off on Thursday.
In a cagey affair at the Estadio Braga Municipal, Abel Ruiz came up trumps for the Portuguese outfit as the 22-year-old forward scored the only goal of the game in the 40th minute.
Carvalhal's side now turn their attention to the Primeira Liga where they are currently on a run of two consecutive victories, seeing off Portimonense 2-1 on March 20 before claiming a thrilling 3-2 win over Benfica most recently.
Braga head into the weekend on a three-match winning run in all competitions — their longest streak since also picking up three consecutive wins last October — while they are unbeaten in four straight games since a 1-0 home loss against Gil Vicente on March 13.
Os Arcebispos have won 15, drawn seven and lost six of their 28 games so far to collect 52 points and sit fourth in the league standings, six points above fifth-placed Gil Vicente in the final Conference League qualification spot.
- L
- D
- L
- D
- D
- W
- W
- D
- D
- L
- W
- W
- W
- L
- D
- W
- W
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Bruno Wilson remains out of contention for Vizela after the Portuguese defender picked up an injury in the 1-1 draw with Benfica on March 11.
While Raphael Guzzo made his return from an injury lay-off against Estoril Praia last weekend, 23-year-old Koffi Kouao continues his spell on the injury table.
Braga will make do with the absence of veteran defender Nuno Sequeira, who continues his long road to full fitness after suffering a severe knee injury.
He is joined on the Os Arcebispos injury table by the teenage duo of 19-year-old Jean Gorby and 16-year-old Roger Fernandes.
With the return leg against Rangers coming up next week, Carvalhal could leave out a few regular faces this weekend, with Vitor Oliveira potentially coming in for Ricardo Horta, who is currently the club's top scorer in the league with 15 goals.
Vizela possible starting lineup:
Silva; Afonso, Anderson, Aidara, Ofori; Claudemir, Rashid, Samu; Bondoso, Moreira, Cassiano
Braga possible starting lineup:
Matheus; Tormena, Carmo, Silva; Moura, F Silva, Castro, Couto; Oliveira, Medeiros, Ruiz
We say: Vizela 1-2 Braga
Braga appear to have hit their stride once again, claiming three wins from their last three games, while also impressing at the attacking end of the pitch. Next up for Carvalhal's men is a floundering Vizela side who have managed just three wins at home all season and we predict they will come away victorious in this one.
Top tip
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 Braga win with a probability of 48.08%. A win for Vizela had a probability of 26.54% and a draw had a probability of 25.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Braga win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.16%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.34%) and 0-2 (8.64%). The likeliest Vizela win was 1-0 (7.8%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.07%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with an 11.2% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 0-1 win for Braga in this match and our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted the win for Braga.
