Nacional Madeira Funchal (home)
- Nacional Madeira Funchal have won three, drawn two, and lost five of their ten home games in the Primeira Liga.
- Nacional have scored 16 goals in 10 home league games.
- Tiago Margarido has built his reputation as a disciplined, pragmatic tactician while in charge of the club and his side are certainly solid enough to frustrate this Porto team.
- Nacional will set up a deep, compact and narrow block that should provide plenty of resistance to the visitors’ passing game.
- They will be looking to hurt Porto on the transition and from set-pieces, where the hosts can be very dangerous.
FC Porto (away)
- FC Porto have won 10 of their 11 away games in the Primeira Liga, conceding an average of 0.36 goals per game.
- FC Porto have won two, drawn two, and lost one of their last five games in all competitions.
- Francesco Farioli has brought his 4-3-3 system to Porto with inverted full-backs, high pressing and lots of tempo on the ball.
- They can dominate possession and can hurt opponents with their pace and directness in the final third.
Head-to-Head
This fixture has not favoured Porto in recent times with both sides winning one of the last two games and the visitors failing to win on their last two trips to the island.
Key Players
- Samuel Aghehowa has scored 12 Primeira Liga goals in 20 appearances.
- Jesus Ramirez has been a very effective focal point for Nacional with 13 in 21 games.
Betting Insights
- FC Porto are the clear favorites at 1.34, although it is not as much a sure thing as those odds suggest.
- Nacional are big underdogs at 8.6, but they could be good enough to pull a surprise against the table-topping title contenders again.
- Take the over 2.5 goals at 1.7 as both coaches will feel there is enough on the line to play their part in an attacking affair.
Prediction
- A Porto away win looks likely given the two clubs’ respective positions and Porto’s incredible road record.
- Nacional have scored enough at home to find the net, so a close game with goals is probable.
