On Monday night, Sporting Braga host Santa Clara at the Estadio Municipal de Braga in the Portuguese Primeira Liga.
Sporting Braga are currently fourth-place in the table, seven points shy of the Champions League qualifier spot. However, they currently occupy one of the last two European qualifying spots, 14 points clear of sixth-place Vitoria Guimaraes.
Braga heads into this clash on the back of four wins in their last five matches in the Primeira Liga. Last time out, Carlos Carvalhal’s team recorded a 1-0 win at Tondela.
The home side has a strong recent home record in the Portuguese top-flight, as they have won six of their last eight games on home soil in the Primeira Liga while losing just once.
Braga have also been lethal in front of goal on home soil, scoring at least two goals in eight of their last ten matches in the league.
They also have a good recent record against the visitors, winning three of the last four meetings between the two teams.
Santa Clara are in the limbo of tenth-place in the Primeira Liga table. However, the visitors may be slightly nervously looking over their shoulders at the relegation spots.
They are currently five points clear of the relegation play-off spot and six points clear of the automatic relegation zone.
Their recent form has been inconsistent of late, but they have failed to win in three league matches. On the flip-side, they have also lost just one of their last seven matches in the Portuguese top-flight.
The visitors have struggled for results on their travels in the Primeira Liga, winning just once in 11 previous away matches.
A leaky defence has been the main cause of their poor recent away results, as Santa Clara have conceded at least two goals in six of their last seven league matches on their travels.
Forebet predicts that Sporting Braga will record a comfortable win in a high-scoring game and add to the visitor’s anxiety about being sucked into the battle at the bottom of the table.