Preview: Porto vs. Gil Vicente - prediction, team news, lineups

The Gilistas head into the weekend on a run of nine consecutive away defeats across all competitions since the start of March and will be desperate to end this poor run.

Match preview

Porto kicked off the 2023-24 Champions League campaign on a high as they cruised to a 3-1 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk at the Volksparkstadion on Tuesday.

In an action-packed first half, a brace from Wenderson Galeno and Mehdi Taremi's 29th-minute strike were enough to hand the Ukrainian powerhouse an opening-day defeat in Group H.

This was in keeping with their impressive run of results in the new Primeira Liga campaign, where they have enjoyed an unbeaten start, claiming 13 points from the first 15 available.

Porto kicked off the new Portuguese top-flight season with three back-to-back successive victories over Moreirense, Farense and Rio Ave before playing out a somewhat disappointing 1-1 draw against Arouca on September 3.

Sergio Concicao's side returned to winning ways in their first outing after the international break as they edged out newly-promoter Estrela Amadora 1-0 on September 15 courtesy of a first-half strike from Taremi.

Porto have picked up 13 points from the first 15 available to sit third in the Primeira Liga standings, only behind Boavista and Sporting Lisbon on goal difference.

Gil Vicente, on the other hand, finally stopped the rot last Saturday when they cruised to a resounding 5-3 victory over Estoril Praia at the Estadio Cidade de Barcelos.

Tbe Gilistas turned in a superb tea performance as Pedro Tiba, Maxime Dominguez, Murilo Souza, Felix Coreia and Depu all found the back of the net to hand the Canarinhos a third consecutive defeat.

Prior to that, Gil Vicente kicked off the season with an emphatic 5-0 victory over Portimonense on August 12 before suffering three back-to-back defeats against Vitoria de Guimaraes, Benfica and Vizela respectively.

With six points from their opening five matches, Vitor Campelos's men are currently ninth in the Primeira Liga standings, level on points with Arouca and newly-promoted Farense.

While Gil Vicente will be looking to pick up successive victories for the first time since March, standing in their way is a rampant Porto side who are unbeaten in 17 of the last 20 meetings between the teams, claiming 15 wins and two draws since January 2011.

Porto Primeira Liga form:

Porto form (all competitions):

W

W

W

D

W

W

Gil Vicente Primeira Liga form:

Gil Vicente form (all competitions):

L

W

L

L

L

W

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Team News

Porto remain without the attacking duo of Evanilson and Gabriel Veron, who continue their lengthy spells on the sidelines through knee and muscle injuries respectively.

Fellow forward Danny Namaso is set to sit out his fourth straight game after picking up a thigh injury in August's game against Rio Ave, while Ivan Marcano (knee) and Zaidu Sanusi (muscle) are also out of contention for the hosts.

With his midweek brace, Galeno now has five goal involvements in his last five matches and the Brazilian forward should form the front three with Andre Franco and experienced striker Taremi.

As for Gil Vicente, Campelos will be unable to call upon the services of 27-year-old Ali Alipour, who has been sidelined since coming off injured in February's game against Famalicao.

He is joined on the Gilistas' injury table by experienced goalkeeper Stanislav Kritsyuk, who has also been out of action since February through a severe muscle problem.

Summer signing Dominguez has hit the ground running for Gil Vicente and the former Rakow Czestochowa man, who boasts five goal involvements in his first five matches, will be one to look out for.

Porto possible starting lineup:

Costa; Sanchez, Pepe, Marcano, Wendell; Eustaquio, Varela, Jaime; Franco, Galeno, Taremi

Gil Vicente possible starting lineup:

Andrew; Ze Carlos, Pereira, Fernandes, Buta; Tiba, Neto; Souza, Dominguez, Correia; Depu

We say: Porto 3-1 Gil Vicente

While Gil Vicente will be looking to build on their impressive result against Estoril, they gave the stern challenge of taking on a high-flying Porto side who have flown out of the blocks this season. Conceicao's side are currently firing on all cylinders and we are backing them to pick up all three points once again.

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