Santa Clara v Casa Pia

Casa Pia will play their first match of top-flight football in 83 years when they travel to the Azores and take on Santa Clara at the Estádio de San Miguel in Ponta Delgada. The Lisbon-based side – nicknamed Os Gansos or The Geese – earned promotion in their third season in Portugal’s second tier, finishing two points behind Rio Ave in first place and four above Chaves. Whilst they would score two goals fewer than the champions, Casa Pia conceded just 22 goals in 34 matches – 9 fewer than Rio Ave.

Filipe Martins’ side have had a mixed preseason featuring a 2-1 loss to Sheffield United and a 1-0 win over Mafra, and they’ll be counting on the arrival of Rafael Martins from Moreirense to provide them a new dimension in attack following the departure of Jota Silva to Vitória de Guimarães. Their opponents have lost in preseason to Marítimo, Paços de Ferreira and Vitória’s B team, drawn to Tondela and Penafiel, and beaten Nacional and Rio Ave, failing to find the back of the net in three of seven matches. After a summer that saw key figures like Lincoln and Hidemasa Morita depart for Fenerbahçe and Sporting, Santa Clara could have issues breaking down a stubborn Casa Pia backline. 

Arguably the best form of Santa Clara’s 95-year history came with both Lincoln and Morita in the line-up. After racking up 2 goals and 12 assists in his first two campaigns, Lincoln provided 5 goals and 7 assists in 2021/22 to lead the Azoreans out of a relegation fight and towards a comfortable midtable finish. Morita, meanwhile, would seamlessly transition from Japan to Portugal after making the move from Kawasaki Frontale in January 2021, slotting into midfield as Santa Clara sealed European football for the first time in club history. They would, however, fail to advance to the Europa Conference League group stage after losing to Partizan, and the departures of several key players like Carlos Júnior and Fábio Cardoso saw them limp through autumn before picking up steam midway through the campaign and avoiding the drop. Santa Clara scored just 38 goals last season – only Estoril scored fewer (36) in the top 10, whilst only Vizela, Tondela and Belenenenses-SAD conceded more in the entire top-flight than their 54 goals. I’m expecting Santa Clara to go for more of a conservative setup as they look to batten down the hatches, protect their defense and avoid last season’s vulnerable start, and I’m expecting a low-scoring affair in the Azores.

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Braga v Sporting

The showpiece event of the Primeira Liga’s opening weekend takes place on Sunday afternoon as Sporting visit the Estádio Municipal de Braga. It is a homecoming for Rúben Amorim, who began his coaching career at the first-team level after spending the past three months as Braga B’s manager, but he would last just three months before leaving for Sporting on the cusp of the COVID-19 break. Sporting agreed to pay an initial fee of €10 million to secure his services, a fee that paid off one year later as Amorim led the Lions to their first league title since 2002. Braga, on the other hand, would finish fourth under new manager Carlos Carvalhal and win the Taça de Portugal, beating Benfica 2-0 in the final and losing 1-0 to Sporting in the Taça da Liga final. The following year, Sporting would finish second and advance to the Champions League knockout round despite losing their first two matches, whilst also losing to Porto in the Taça de Portugal semifinals. Braga once again finished fourth and advanced to the Europa League quarter finals, where they would lose to Rangers.

Braga have suffered two major departures in Carvalhal, who has been replaced at the helm by Artur Jorge, and star center back David Carmo, whose departure to Porto saw the Arsenalistas pick up Guingamp’s Sikou Niakaté, whilst also investing in other positions. They have signed Spanish right back Víctor Gómez from Espanyol to replace Yan Couto following his return to Manchester City, and added Mexican winger Diego Lainez from Real Betis. All of these have been loan deals with the exception of Simon Banza, who joins from Lens for €3 million after an impressive loan spell at Famalicão that saw him score 12 goals and 3 assists in his debut Primeira campaign. Most importantly, they have kept hold of Ricardo Horta, who scored 23 goals and 10 assists in all competitions to prompt a lengthy transfer saga with Benfica that looks far from over. Horta scored one goal in each of Braga’s last four matches to surpass Mario Laranjas, who scored 92 goals between 1946 and 1954, and become the all-time leading scorer in Braga’s history, putting Braga ahead within a minute in the final match of the season. Famalicão would have the last laugh, however, pulling off a 3-2 victory thanks to a brace from Banza.

Braga have kept hold of their strongest weapon and captain whilst adding Banza and Lainez to Artur Jorge’s wealth of options in attack. They have won pre season friendlies against Middlesbrough (3-0), Arouca (3-2) and Bournemouth (2-1), and they’ll be looking to pick up where they left off after a season that saw them beat Sporting, Benfica and Porto over the second half of the campaign. I’m expecting them to find a goal against a Sporting side that has conceded 10 goals in 11 preseason fixtures and that has lost midf, and I’m expecting Sporting to exploit a Braga defense that may have a tough time replacing David Carmo.

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Chaves v Vitória de Guimarães

It has been quite the tumultuous summer for Vitória de Guimarães. Just nine days before their Europa Conference League qualifier against Puskás Akadémia, Pepa left his post as manager and was replaced by Moreno, who led them to a comfortable 3-0 first leg victory before drawing 0-0 in Hungary. They would travel to Croatia a week later and face off against Hadjuk Split, who methodically carved up their defense but were unable to find a goal before the hour-mark, when Portuguese right back Miguel Maga advanced forward and played a one-two before launching a rocket from the edge of the box into the top left corner. Six minutes later, as Hadjuk worked their way around the box and got the ball to Marko Livaja, three players surrounded the club’s top scorer, allowing him to hesitate, find an inch of space and fire a shot that careened off the post and towards Emir Sahiti, who was unmarked and free to take a touch and tap in from close range. Hadjuk Split would go on to score twice in the final quarter-hour to take a 3-1 lead going into Portugal, a match that could be weighing on Moreno just as much as the league opener. 

Vitória have lost top scorer Óscar Estupiñán on a free transfer to Hull City and sold Rochinha to Sporting, whilst other key players such as André Almeida could be set to depart in the final weeks of the window. Their opponents have lost Brazilian defender Alexsandro to Lille, with Les Dogues snapping up the 22-year-old as a replacement for Sven Botman, and they’ll be playing their first top-flight match since 2019 after finishing third in the Segunda, six points above Feirense. 

Chaves scored the second-most goals (35) in the Segunda last season and began their preseason with a 1-1 draw to Viseu, a 2-1 win vs. Braga B, and a 3-1 win over Vitória B, before drawing 0-0 to Arouca and Lugo. With a second leg against Hadjuk coming up on Wednesday and the future of various key players unclear, I think Vitória’s divided attention could lead to some unexpected turbulence in northern Portugal. Expect Chaves to find a goal against a leaky Vitória defense, and expect a goalscoring arsenal featuring Jota Silva, André Silva, Anderson Silva and Rúben Lameiras to find a way past the newly promoted side’s backline.

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Portimonense v Boavista

Despite conceding 10 goals in preseason, Sporting’s sole defeat in regular time came on July 20 in a 2-0 loss to Portimonense, who have since followed that win by beating Braga 2-0, beating Sporting Covilhã 1-0 and beating Estrela da Amadora 2-1. Portimonense finished 13th last season, level on points with Boavista, Paços de Ferreira and Marítimo, five points clear of 14th-placed Vizela and nine points clear of the relegation play-off. Whilst Portimonense have only lost Shoya Nakajima and Iván Angulo, who returned to Porto and Palmeiras following their loan spells, Boavista’s squad has suffered various major departures including Croatian Petar Musa, who scored 11 goals and 3 assists in the league before moving to Benfica, right wing-back Nathan Santos, who returned to Brazil and joined Santos, and Ecuadorian center back Jackson Porozo who moved to Ligue 1 side Troyes. This, combined with the departure of Gustavo Sauer, who left for Botafogo in April after building a stellar chemistry with Musa in attack and racking up 6 goals and 6 assists, could see Boavista struggle in the opening weeks of the season.

After beating Portimonense 1-0 in the penultimate match of the 2020/21 campaign, the Axadrezados beat them 2-0 on August 1, 2021 in the Taça da Liga, before drawing 1-1 in their next two meetings against the Algarvian side. Both Paulo Sérgio and Petit will be looking to start their season off on a strong note, but they’ll be well aware that either side has what it takes to shut up shop and grind out a result following an early goal. The two sides are still figuring things out how to make things work in attack following the departures of Nakajima, Musa and co., and Boavista in particular will be eager to eliminate any schoolboy errors following a preseason that has seen them lose to Arouca, Leixões and Varzim, potentially seeing Petit go with more conservative tactics in their trip to the Algarve. I’m expecting an intriguing chess match in Portimão, albeit one that might be low on chances at either hand, with both managers keeping their cards close to their chest. Excluding their defeats to Sporting, Porto and Benfica, 10 of Portimonense’s last 11 league matches featured two goals or fewer – that exception coming in a defeat to Braga. This may not be heavy on goals, but it should be heavy on entertainment and a nervy 15 minutes.

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Gil Vicente v Paços de Ferreira

The opening weekend of the 2022/23 Primeira Liga season draws to a close on Monday as Gil Vicente welcomes Paços de Ferreira to Barcelos in a match that will pit the last two fifth-placed teams against each other. After securing a fifth-place finish in 2020/21, Paços would lose manager Pepa and various key players, a vicious cycle that Gil Vicente were unable to escape with manager Ricardo Soares and several starters such as Samuel Lino and Pedrinho left the club. Gil played their first European match in the club’s 98-year history on Wednesday, with Douglas Aurélio putting Riga ahead early on, only for summer signing Juan Manuel Boselli to equalize at the hour-mark to secure a 1-1 draw in Latvia.

Gil will have one eye on Thursday’s return match in Barcelos and they’ll be looking to avoid the fate of Paços and Santa Clara when they failed to reach the Europa Conference League group stage. After losing to Tottenham in the play-off stage, Paços struggled to rekindle the flames of 2020/21, with Jorge Simão – Pepa’s replacement – lasting until December before being replaced by César Peixoto. The Beavers rebounded over the second half of the season and eventually finished 11th despite scoring 29 goals, the second-fewest in the league after last-placed B-SAD, but they have suffered some major departures this summer.

André Ferreira, who emerged as one of the finest goalkeepers in the top-flight for Paços last season, headed to Granada following their relegation to the Segunda to replace Luís Maximiano, veteran center backs Maracás and Marco Baixinho, center forward Denílson and winger Hélder Ferreira have left, and Nuno Santos has returned from his impressive loan spell at joined MLS side Charlotte FC from Benfica. With three key pillars in defense gone as well as three leaders in attack, I’m expecting Paços to come out with a measured approach and focus on keeping things tight at the back rather than a gung-ho approach going forward. Six of eight Paços’ eight pre season friendlies featured one goal or fewer, and each of their last four meetings with Gil Vicente have resulted in two goals or fewer. I’m expecting a cagey affair between two sides who are still finding themselves after major squad overhauls – one of whom will be conserving energy for a meeting with Riga in Barcelos on Thursday, and one of whom will be looking to improve on last season’s measly goalscoring output of 29 goals in 34 matches.

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