Sports Mole previews Saturday’s Primeira Liga clash between Vitoria de Guimaraes and Braga, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Two sides battling it out for a place in the top four come together on Saturday evening at the Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques in the penultimate match of the Primeira Liga season.
Braga come into this game occupying fourth place with Vitoria de Guimaraes trailing behind them by five points, leaving this as a crucial encounter for both teams.
Match preview
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Guimaraes head into this encounter knowing that if they fail to win then their hopes of finishing within the top four come to an end as they currently trail Braga and Porto by five and six points respectively with just two games left to play.
While all three points in this match would still see Alvaro Pacheco‘s men fail to move into the top four, Braga’s last fixture of the season pits them up against third-placed Porto, which would give Guimaraes the chance to leapfrog into fourth place on the final day.
Guimaraes have been extremely strong at home throughout this term, losing on just three occasions in the league, while they have also beaten Braga in both the previous two meetings at their home ground.
However, Pacheco’s side have struggled for consistency in recent weeks, suffering four losses and a draw in their previous seven outings across all competitions, leaving them entering into this game in underwhelming form.
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Braga also come into this match in an unwanted circumstance after former manager Artur Jorge departed the club in favour of Botafogo in April, leaving club president Antonio Salvador far from pleased.
The Archbishops have hired Rui Duarte as interim manager until the end of the campaign at which point current Arouca boss Daniel Sousa is set to take charge.
Braga, who had only lost one of their last 10 Primeira Liga games prior to Jorge’s departure, have gone on to lose two of the following five since Duarte took the reigns, only picking up narrow victories in the remaining three.
Despite that, Duarte’s men will be hopeful of securing their place in the top four with at least a point against Guimaraes, while they could still go one step further and earn qualification to the Europa League if they go on to win on the final day against Porto, who they currently trail by a sole point.
Braga have been hard to beat while on the road, taking the fourth most points of any side when playing away from home with a total of 32 from 16 matches, and they will be hoping they can once again take a vital three points on the road here.
Vitoria de Guimaraes Primeira Liga form:
Vitoria de Guimaraes form (all competitions):
Braga Primeira Liga form:
Team News
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Guimaraes are set to be without two players for this potential top-four decider.
Joao Mendes suffered an ankle injury in April and is not expected to make his return until later this month.
Tomas Handel picked up his fifth yellow card of the season in the last outing and is now suspended for this encounter.
Ricardo Mangas made his return to the squad for the 2-1 loss to Rio Ave last weekend and the midfielder is expected to remain on the bench here.
As for Braga, they are without three of their own owing to suspensions.
Victor Gomez was sent off against Benfica and will remain suspended for this one, while Alvaro Djalo will also serve a one-game suspension following his two yellow card offences against Casa Pia a week ago.
Defender Paulo Oliveira is the final player set to be unavailable after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season, meaning Sikou Niakate will be alongside a new partner in this match.
Vitoria de Guimaraes possible starting lineup:
Varela; Ribeiro, Borevkovic, M Silva; Maga, T Silva, Andre, Santos, Freitas; Kaio, J Silva
Braga possible starting lineup:
Matheus; Mendes, Niakate, Saatci, Borja; Zalazar, Moutinho; Ruiz, Horta, Bruma; Banza
We say: Vitoria de Guimaraes 1-1 Braga
Both teams have gone through slight wobbles in recent weeks and while Guimaraes have been so strong at home this season, Braga have also been hard to beat when playing on the road.
For those reasons, we believe that these two sides are incredibly evenly matched and expect this one to end in a draw.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.