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Braga vs Sporting Prediction & Betting tips
The Portuguese League Cup, Taca da Liga, is still a very young competition – it was first held in 2007/08. All clubs in the top two leagues of the country are eligible and both Braga and Sporting have come to a title so far, with the kickers from the capital being the current champions. With Sporting Braga they now have a very heavy opponent in front of their chest. The hosts have completed the previous main round sovereign.
As the first of Group B and with three wins and a goal difference of 11: 1, the collection was easily reached in the final round. Also Sporting has moved into the semi-finals as the best team of Group D, but the balance fell with two triumphs and a surprising home defeat against second division side Estoril Praia less well. Even in the current season of the Primeira Liga, the Lisbon are currently behind the third-placed home side, although only one place and two points. No wonder that at Braga against Sporting Lisbon the odds are very evenly distributed. The tip includes the double chance of the hosts. The forecast is played with 5 units.
Braga:
The season started with a bitter disappointment for the Arsenalistas as they narrowly lost out on their away goals when they entered the third qualifying round of the Europa League against FC Zorya Luhansk. For the finalists of the Europa League 2011, however, this meant that the concentration could be fully focused on national competitions. That has certainly paid off, because in the Primeira Liga Minhotos take the third place at the moment, which the record from the previous year is exceeded by one place.
Only two defeats have Braga conceded after 18 matchdays and together with Benfica, the team provides the second best defensive of all clubs. Just 17 goals have been allowed, resulting in a cut below one hit per game. A great value, especially against the backdrop of two strong defensive forces leaving Braga in the summer with Danilo in the direction of OGC Nice and Nikola Vukcevic, now at UD Levante. In addition, the two-time Portuguese Cup winner Matheus missing since late August due to an injury. But his replacement, the 24-year-old Sa tiago, is doing very well so far.
In addition, the Arcebispos have a very powerful offensive on which excels with particularly good performances Dyego Sousa. The Brazilian comes up with twelve goals in the Primeira Liga – best score and already four goals more than in the preseason after 18 inserts. In the coming match, the winner of the League Cup in 2013 can also rely on his home advantage at the Estádio Municipal de Braga. After all, the team of coach Abel Ferreira, who was a footballer for a short time at Braga and over several years at Sporting under contract, after nine home games in the league still unbeaten. A performance that otherwise only the upcoming opponents from Lisbon has. The league record is also the number of conceded just five goals in front of home crowd and the recent seven home games in the league and in the Cup have been consistently won – last even four times including a clean sheet.
Sporting Lisbon:
Lisbon won the League Cup last season with a successful penalty shoot-out against Vitoria Setubal. This could be a good omen, because the final destination was the stadium in Braga. For Sporting it was the first triumph in the competition, which won the nemesis Benfica as sole record holder already seven times. The Leões will otherwise miss a bit of constancy in these weeks. Only two of the last five league games were won and also twice the team of the Dutch coach Marcel Keizer had to give up. Their opponents CD Tondela and Vitória Guimarães were not among the top names in Portuguese football.
Both bankruptcies took place abroad, which is the biggest shortcoming of Sporting addressed this season. While it represents the home-strongest Elf of the Primeira Liga, Lisbon is working much less well in foreign countries. Only the eighth place occupied the green whites in this rating and of eight appearances, half was lost. In addition, Sporting conceded in away games almost twice as many goals. Furthermore, Sporting only achieved a clean sheet in two out of its 15 away games.
One of the reasons for the defensive weakness is the personnel policy last summer. At that time went to several important defensive forces such as William Carvalho (Betis Sevilla), goalkeeper Rui Patrcio (Wolverhampton) or Cristiano Piccini (Valencia CF). To counter this malady, the club was active but a few days ago. Thus, the defensive midfielder Idrissa Doumbia of Akhmat Grozny from the Russian Premjer League has been committed. The 20-year-old from Côte d’Ivoire can be used mainly on the six and kicked before his involvement in Russia at RSC Anderlecht. But at least the offensive works very well: The team has scored in the league as many goals as Braga and with the Portuguese Nani (seven goals) and the Dutch Bas Dost (ten goals) the most dangerous strike duo in the Primeira Liga. In addition, Coach Keizer can draw on Bruno Fernandes in the midfield, which has already set seven times and with five assists one of the top assistants in the Primeira Liga. Against Braga Sporting Lisbon has the slightly worse cards, according to the bookmakers, but the odds are so close together that one can not speak of an actual outsider role.
Braga vs Sporting head to head matches
24.09.18 PL Braga Sporting 1 : 0
31.03.18 PL Braga Sporting 1 : 0
05.11.17 PL Sporting Braga 2 : 2
30.04.17 PL Braga Sporting 2 : 3
18.12.16 PL Sporting Braga 0 : 1