On Thursday night, Porto will play Rio Ave at home in the last round of the group stage of the Portuguese League Cup. We bring to your attention the forecast for this meeting.
Porto
The Dragons are the leader in the Portuguese championship, but they have failed the National League Cup this season, losing ignominiously in the opening match away to Santa Clara (1:3). Now the Azoreans are out of reach for Porto, so this match has no tournament significance for Sergio Conceicau's team.
Rio Ave
Rio Ave fought well in the match with Santa Clara, but still could not squeeze the opponent, who had been playing ten times for the last half-time – the match ended in a draw 2:2. Now the team needs to win big on Dragau in order to intercept a ticket to the semifinals of the tournament from the islanders. In the Segunda "Big River" is in 4th place, fighting for promotion in class.
Statistics and figures
- Porto has a 6-match winning streak in the domestic arena;
- In five of the last seven matches of Porto, the Total bet was more than 2.5;
- Porto have won 9 matches out of 11 played at home this season, losing only to Liverpool and Atletico in the Champions League;
- Porto lost to Rio Ave only once in history – in 2004;
- Rio Ave lost the last 2 matches, although before that it had a 3-match winning streak;
- Rio Ave has scored in 11 of the last 12 matches;
- Rio Ave has lost only 1 match out of ten away matches played this season, winning 5 times.
Forecast
In fact, for both teams, this match does not represent a tournament value. Porto cannot even theoretically reach the playoffs, and Rio Ave must win big at Dragau, which is almost unrealistic. It is quite possible that the teams will abandon the viscous power struggle in the central zone in this match, and just play football for fun, giving the fans a spectacle. We are waiting for a large number of goals scored.
