Our prediction for this Portugal Primeira Liga match:
Estadio Municipal de Braga will be the centre of attention when Braga and Porto take on each other in the Primeira Liga derby. The Reds have been scoring goals for fun of late and we are positive that they will adopt yet another attack-minded approach against the Dragons. A man to keep an eye on in the home team will be Ricardo Horta, who scored his 9th goal of the season in a 3-2 win over Guimaraes, while both Alvaro Djalo and Pablo Oliveira are back from suspension.
The visitors, on the other hand, came from behind to beat Boavista in the Porto derby. Given their attacking potential, we believe that there is a big value in betting on over 25 goals. Iran striker Mehdi Taremi is widely expected to return to Porto’s starting XI after sealing the victory against Boavista, while the likes of Pepe, Toni Martinez, Andre Franco, Ivan Jaime, Jorge Sanchez, Zaidu Sanusi, and Ivan Marcano remain in the treatment room.
Highlighted Player (Pepe):
Pepe is a professional footballer who plays for Porto as a defender. The Portuguese international played for Maritimo at the start of his senior career and in 2004 he moved to Porto. After making 64 league appearances for the Dragons, he signed a contract with Real Madrid in 2007 and he quickly established himself as a first-team regular.
Pepe is well known for his hard tackles and referees often show him red card. The Real Madrid centre back often played as a defensive midfielder under Jose Mourinho and it has to be noted that he scored five goals in all competitions in the 2013/2014 La Liga campaign.
The Portuguese footballer won his second Champions League trophy with Real Madrid in the 2015/2016 season and later in 2016 he helped A Selecao win the European Championship trophy. Portugal defeated France in the title game and Pepe played an important role in Fernando Santos’ team in the Euro 2016 final. The Real Madrid defender was born in Maceio, Brazil on 26 February, 1983.
Highlighted Team (Braga):
Braga are a Portuguese club that have always been in the shadow of Primeira Liga giants Porto, Benfica and Sporting. Os Minhotos were founded on 19 January, 1921 and they originally played in green and white kits. After the World War II they changed their kits to red and they have been wearing red shirts and white shorts ever since.
Braga play their home games at Estadio Municipal de Braga, the stadium that was opened in December, 2003. Os Minhotos have yet to win the Primeira Liga title, but they finished the 2009/2010 campaign in second position in the standings, just five points behind champions Benfica.
In 2011 Braga participated in the Europa League final, but fellow Portuguese outfit Porto proved to be a big catch for Os Minhotos. Anyhow, that is regarded as the club’s biggest success. Vitoria de Guimaraes are considered Braga’s bitter rivals and the two teams face each other in the Minho derby.