Portovs.Boavista

With Sporting Lisbon and table-topping Benfica set to battle at the Jose Alvalade on Sunday, the Dragons aim to be the biggest winners in the three-way title race to close out 2024 positively.

Match preview

Porto have recovered from a November wobble to reinforce their ambition for a 31st top-flight title and the first since 2022.

Vitor Bruno's troops suffered three defeats on the trot in all competitions last month, though only one was recorded in the Liga: a 4-1 thrashing by fellow contenders Benfica.

That reverse was followed by a shock Taca de Portugal exit at Moreirense, but the Dragons have stayed undefeated since, winning four and playing out two draws.

On 37 points, Porto head into their final match of 2024 knowing that success over Boavista would take them above table-topping Benfica (38) and defending champions Sporting (37) before the pair play on Sunday.

Those prospects are strengthened by the hosts' unblemished record on home soil this term (eight victories), with only Farense and Braga scoring against Bruno's side in those 2-1 wins.

Such statistics magnify Dragoes' dominance in front of their supporters, and Portistas aim for more of the same against their struggling district rivals.

The pre-match discussion suggests that Boavista are not given a prayer heading into the club's final match of 2024 against the side placed second in the form table with 10 points from 15.

Contrarily, Cristiano Bacci's men rank bottom with three points in five Liga games, highlighting the Chequered Ones' inability to secure positive results.

Nevertheless, optimistic away supporters will point to As Panteras losing once in their previous four Liga fixtures (three draws), and that loss was a close encounter at defending champions Sporting, where they twice equalised before losing 3-2.

Although they enter round 16 winless on home soil (three draws and four losses), Bacci's men have competed commendably on their travels, as highlighted by accruing nine points in away fixtures to rank joint-fifth for road points, behind Sporting (19), Braga (16), Benfica (14) and Porto (13).

Those numbers should give the travelling supporters a glimmer of hope despite the possibility of the side, who occupy the relegation play-off spot with 12 points from 15 games, sliding into the dreaded positions if they lose and Farense (12 points) or Arouca (11) secure positive outcomes against Vitoria Guimaraes and Gil Vicente respectively.

With none of their away defeats by two-goal margins and the corresponding result last season at the Dragao ending in a marginal 2-1 loss, the visitors will hope to scupper Porto's plans of temporarily leapfrogging Sporting and Benfica.

Porto Primeira Liga form:

W

L

W

D

W

W

Porto form (all competitions):

D

W

D

W

W

W

Boavista Primeira Liga form:

W

L

D

D

L

D

Team News

Ivan Marcano, Joao Mario, Marko Grujic and Wendell are not expected back for Porto until January; the hosts will assess Rodrigo Mora after the in-form teenager went off with a suspected injury on his first start at Moreirense.

Along with Santa Clara's Vinicius Lopes, Benfica's Vangelis Pavlidis and Sporting's Viktor Gyokeres, Samu Aghehowa has notched four match-winning goals this term, and the 11-goal forward could be decisive this weekend.

Boavista's long-term absentees Joao Goncalves and Luis Pires remain out with knee injuries; the away side will assess centre-forward Robert Bozenik and Augusto Dabo, who came off with apparent injuries in the goalless draw with AVS.

Only Miguel Reisinho (four goals), Ilija Vukotic and Bruno Onyemaechi (two each) have scored two or more goals for the Chequered Ones, highlighting the absence of reliable match-winning quality.

Porto possible starting lineup:

Costa; Fernandes, Perez, Otavio, Galeno; Eustaquio, Gonzalez; Vieira, Namaso, Pepe; Aghehowa

Boavista possible starting lineup:

Dutra; Miguel, Abascal, Ferreira, Onyemaechi; Perez, Vukotic; Agra, Reisinho, Barros; Namora

We say: Porto 2-0 Boavista

Although both clubs are at opposite ends of the form table, Saturday's encounter between these clubs from the Porto district should be closer than the previous five games suggest.

Written by

Anthony Brown

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