Portugal’s Taca da Liga kicks off this weekend, with a full schedule of matches. On Monday night, Boavista will host Uniao Leiria in their opening matches of the tournament.
The Portuguese top flight has not returned but the Taca da Liga will give fans the chance to see cup football return for the 2023-24 season. Monday’s match will see a top-flight club take on a second-division team in the opening round.
𝐄𝐬𝐭𝐚́𝐠𝐢𝐨 quase a terminar ⏳ #UniãoPorTodoLado #MaisQueFutebol pic.twitter.com/Mny4tusOLy— União de Leiria (@uniaodeleiria) July 14, 2023
𝐄𝐬𝐭𝐚́𝐠𝐢𝐨 quase a terminar ⏳ #UniãoPorTodoLado #MaisQueFutebol pic.twitter.com/Mny4tusOLy
Boavista play their football in the Liga Portugal. Last season, Boavista finished ninth in the standings of the 18-team league.
Uniao Leiria play in the second division of Portuguese football. A win over Boavista would offer Uniao Leiria a great start to the season, as they attempt to achieve promotion to the top flight.
Last season, Uniao Leiria won Liga 3 and earned automatic promotion to Portugal Liga 2. Os Lis are taking a step up in quality. Knocking out a top-flight club would cause ripples within the tournament. Boavista have a higher-quality team going into the match.
Boavista and Uniao Leiria have not played a head-to-head match since 2016. Games between the clubs have been sporadic at best. Their last six matches played between 2007 and 2016, saw Boasvista post a record of 3W-2D-1L.
Manager Petit has overseen Boavista since 2021. He has done well as manager, keeping Boavista in the top flight and winning the odd cup match. Petit has one injury issue going into the game, as centre-back Vincent Sasso is a doubt to play.
The club go into the season without last season’s right-back Reggie Cannon, who departed the club. Left-back Ricardo Mangas was sold for €1 million to league rival Vitoria. His replacement is Bruno Onyemaechi.
Striker Robert Bozenik signed from Feyenoord for €2.5m. He could start against Uniao Leiria. Petit typically uses a 4-1-4-1 formation to provide maximum protection in defence.
Uniao Leiria manager Vasco Botelho da Costa is just 34 but led the team to promotion last season. He goes into the game with no fresh injury issues.
Da Costa used a 3-4-3 formation last season in Liga 3. He may need to adjust his formation and tactics to play stronger competition. Uniao Leiria signed former Benfica B forward Joao Resende. The forward could get a start against Boavista.
Uniao Leiria should put up a struggle against Boavista but ultimately fall 1-0. Boavista’s quality should show through, as they win 1-0 to open the season.