Preview: Porto vs. Chaves - prediction, team news, lineups

The hosts are currently in third place in the league standings after the first 14 matches of the season, while the visitors are languishing at the bottom of the table with just 10 points to date.

Match preview

Porto will look back on the first half of the season in a positive light, with the only real blemish of note being their loss to Sporting Lisbon a couple of weeks ago in their last league match, which saw them pass up the opportunity to take the lead in the league standings.

Viktor Gyokeres gave Sporting the lead in that match, but Porto were still well in the contest until the 57th minute when Pepe was shown his 17th career red card for swinging an arm at the Sporting forward, who went down clutching his face.

The Dragons followed that up with a routine 2-1 win over lower division outfit Leixoes in the Taca da Liga, though that match was of little consequence, with Estoril Praia already through to the next round having topped the group.

That win marked Sergio Conceicao's side's fifth home victory in succession in all competitions, while they also managed to score two or more goals in each of those matches.

Porto won the last encounter against this opponent 3-1 on the road last season, marking their eighth consecutive win over Chaves, while they have outscored them 26-3 in the current win streak.

Meanwhile, Chaves would have been hoping to pull closer to the European qualification places this season after finishing just outside last term, but things have gone horribly wrong for them so far.

They got the season started with five defeats on the trot, and while they managed a brief three-match unbeaten run between September and the start of October, they were unable to keep it going and come into this match having won just one of their last seven in all competitions.

The visitors' last match ended in a 3-1 loss to Casa Pia at home, which tells a story in itself when considering that their opponents on the day had not scored three goals in a match this season and had only found the net 10 times in 13 matches.

Moreno's side have managed just three points from a possible 21 in away games this season and have the worst defensive record on the road by some distance with 22 goals conceded in just seven matches.

All indicators suggest that the visitors are likely to struggle against the high intensity of Porto, and if they concede early, they could find themselves on the wrong side of a big scoreline in their final match of 2023.

Porto Primeira Liga form:

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Chaves Primeira Liga form:

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Team News

Pepe will serve the second of this three match suspension in this match which should see Fabio Cardoso come into the backline to join Ze Pedro in central defence.

In terms of injuries, Samuel Portugal (groin) and Gabriel Veron (Achilles) are both flagged as doubts for Friday's match, while Ivan Marcano could miss the remainder of the season with a severe ACL injury.

Chaves have only one injury concern for this match, with Sandro Cruz listed as a doubt, though he has not been ruled out of contention.

Jo scored the visitor's sole goal against Casa Pia last time out and should keep his place in attack alongside Benny and the side's top scorer, Hector Hernandez.

Porto possible starting lineup:

Costa; Mario, Pedro, Cardoso, Sanusi; Pepe, Eustaquio, Varela, Galeno; Evanilson, Taremi

Chaves possible starting lineup:

Moura; Rodrigues, Vitoria, Nogueira; Correia, Machado, Nwakali, Langa; Benny, Jo, Hernandez

We say: Porto 3-0 Chaves

Having only beaten Porto once in 40 encounters and with just three wins in 14 league matches this season, it is difficult to make much of a case for Chaves in this match. Porto have been excellent at home over the last couple of months, and we fancy them to deliver a dominant display in this one.

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