Braga v Famalicão

Since returning to the top-flight in 2019 after a 25-year absence, Famalicão have finished sixth, ninth and eighth in their first three seasons back in the Primeira Liga. There have been plenty of ups and downs and twists and turns in Fama’s return, but one thing that has remained the same is a consistently balanced and tense matchup against Braga, 30 minutes up the road from Vila Nova de Famalicão. The two sides have faced each other on six occasions since 2019 – five of which have seen a red card. After drawing 2-2 and 0-0 in 2019/20, Fama would lose 1-0 to Braga in November 2020, the third straight game that saw a Famalicão center back get sent off vs Braga, with Bruno Viana scoring shortly after Riccieli’s expulsion. That was followed by back-to-back 2-2 draws – the latter of which saw Braga drop to 10 men within 24 minutes – before an enticing matchup on the final day of the 2021/22 campaign.

Ricardo Horta would open the scoring within a minute to become Braga’s all-time leading goalscorer, surpassing Mario Laranjas and grabbing his 93rd goal for the Arsenalistas. Vítor Oliveira doubled things up in the 19th minute, but Simon Banza grabbed one back before halftime. Bruno Rodrigues equalized in the 80th minute for the home side, whilst Banza snatched a winner in the 89th minute to give Famalicão their first ever win against Braga in their return to the top-flight. Horta has been the subject of Portugal’s lengthiest transfer saga this summer with Roger Schmidt’s Benfica, but he nevertheless started in the season opener against Sporting and provided the assist for Simon Banza to equalize in the 14th minute after ex Fama man Pedro Gonçalves opened the scoring within nine minutes. Nuno Santos gave Sporting the lead again shortly after, only for Sikou Niakaté to equalize on the cusp of halftime via a free kick. Marcus Edwards would give Sporting their third lead of the night in the 83rd minute, but once again, their opponents would come crawling back, snatching an equalizer five minutes later as Spaniards Álvaro Djaló and Abel Ruíz combined to secure a 3-3 draw at Braga.

Famalicão slumped to a 2-0 defeat at Estoril Praia on opening day with Francisco Geraldes opening the scoring within 20 minutes and Arthur Gomes grabbing another at the stroke of the interval, and they’ll be looking to bounce back at home against a Braga side that, despite its profuse attacking talent, is adapting to life without Portuguese center back David Carmo following his move to Porto, and that has been weighed down by an incessant transfer saga involving their best player. It remains to be seen whether or not Ricardo Horta will be a Benfica or a Braga player by the weekend, but Braga nevertheless have ample weapons to exploit Fama’s young defense, including last season’s top scorer at Famalicão in Banza. Fama, however, have scored in six of their last seven home matches – six in their last two – and have what it takes to cause Braga plenty of problems going forward. I’m backing this one to be an entertaining fixture between two sides with plenty of history, and I’m backing both teams to find the back of the net here.

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Casa Pia v Benfica

Benfica have begun the campaign in seamless form under new manager Roger Schmidt, who arrived from PSV following a two-year spell in the Netherlands to become the club’s first manager since Quique Sánchez Flores, who departed in June 2009 after a one-year spell. The Lisbon club won each of their six preseason friendlies with a combined 20-6 scoreline, and they kicked off the Primeira Liga campaign with a 4-0 victory against Arouca on Friday before following it up with a 3-1 win in Denmark that saw them progress 7-2 on aggregate past FC Midtjylland.

For the third consecutive match, Argentine midfielder Enzo Fernández found the back of the net, the 21-year-old arriving from River Plate in July and being quickly ushered into the German manager’s starting eleven alongside Florentino Luís and João Mário in midfield. All but one of their six preseason matches saw over 2.5 goals scored – a 2-0 win against Reading – with the Eagles thrashing Nice, Fulham, Girona, Newcastle and Amora before beating Arouca and FCM by a combined 11-3 scoreline in their first three competitive fixtures. They’ll be paying a visit to Casa Pia on Saturday, before a grueling week that will see them travel to Łódź, Poland and host Dynamo Kyiv at the Estádio da Luz in the UEFA Champions League playoffs.

Casa Pia secured a 0-0 draw in their first match of top-flight football in 83 years, with Filipe Martins’ side traveling to the Azorean Islands and taking away a point against Santa Clara, who played the final quarter-hour with 10 men following Ricardo António’s expulsion. Casa Pia enjoyed 11 shots on goal to Santa Clara’s 7 as well as 3 shots on goal each, and they will be looking to build on that when they host Benfica at the Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa, a stadium that was built for the 2004 EUROs and has served as the home for União de Leiria, with Casa Pia playing their home matches there for the time being due to stadium renovations. 

No team has been able to keep Benfica off the score sheet so far this season, and I don’t expect it to be Casa Pia. The Eagles are clicking on all cylinders under a fresh, new, attack-minded approach authored by Schmidt, who will be keen to put this one to bed early and focus on their upcoming two matches against their Ukrainian opponents.

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Sporting CP v Rio Ave

Rio Ave finished fifth in 2019/20, five points behind Sporting and Braga and one point above Famalicão to secure Europa League qualification on the final day of the season, before suffering an exodus of talent the following summer as manager Carlos Carvalhal headed for Braga and brought Al Musrati and Lucas Piazón with him following their impressive loan spells at Rio Ave, top scorer Mehdi Taremi joined Porto, whilst Nuno Santos and Matheus Reis would join Sporting and win the club’s first Primeira Liga title in 19 years. Rio Ave, meanwhile, would suffer relegation for the first time since 2006, before finishing atop the Segunda to bounce back at their first attempt. They would host Vizela and maintain 66% possession at Vila de Conde, but the visitors nevertheless had the better end of opportunities with 12 shots to Rio Ave’s 7 and 7 shots on goal to Rio Ave’s 0. Alvaro Pacheco’s side carved up a slow, disorganized and unfocused backline on multiple occasions, but they would have to wait until the 66th minute as Nuno Moreira capitalized on Jhonathan’s failure to control a shot and tapped home into the net, with Vizela holding onto a 1-0 win.

Rio Ave’s defensive struggles allowed Vizela a handful of opportunities, and they could be punished with far more goals against an attack featuring Pedro Gonçalves, Marcus Edwards, Rochinha, Paulinho and Francisco Trincão. Despite taking the lead on three occasions, Sporting were unable to escape Braga with three points with the two sides settling for a 3-3 draw. After one week, Sporting are already two points behind their two eternal rivals, and they can ill afford to drop points again prior to next week’s trip to the Estádio de Dragão.

Pedro Gonçalves scored in both of Sporting’s fixtures against the Vilacondenses in 2020/21, and after opening the scoring within nine minutes against Braga, I’m expecting him to feast on an unconvincing Rio Ave backline that could cause some serious issues for 36-year-old manager Luís Freire in his trip to the Estádio José Alvalade. Sporting are in need of a strong statement ahead of their visit to Porto, and I’m backing them to stamp their authority early on and put this one to bed before halftime. Sporting have won 13 out of their last 15 league matches at home since September 24, with their sole defeats coming to Benfica and Braga, and I’m backing them to bounce back with a strong performance at home against a Rio Ave side that is still finding its feet in their return to the Primeira.

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