On Tuesday evening, Portuguese side Sporting Braga host Serbian outfit Backa Topola for the first leg of their UEFA Champions League third round qualifier.
Braga finished third in the Portuguese Primeira Liga last season, while Backa Topola finished second in the Serbian SuperLiga.
A exigência aumenta. O ritmo não abranda. A competição está à porta. … E o trabalho continua 😤💥#PorMais pic.twitter.com/TUr0zZE01a— SC Braga (@SCBragaOficial) August 4, 2023
A exigência aumenta. O ritmo não abranda. A competição está à porta. … E o trabalho continua 😤💥#PorMais pic.twitter.com/TUr0zZE01a
Can Os Arsenalistas notch a first-leg advantage on home soil? Or will TSC cause an upset on Tuesday? It’s time to take a closer look at the teams.
Let's start with the hosts, Braga, who have enjoyed an impressive pre-season, remaining undefeated in six matches.
Following four straight wins against Torreense, Boavista, Cardiff City and Bristol Rovers, Braga drew with Jose Mourinho’s Roma before defeating French side Nice 2-0 last time out.
Braga lost just six of their 34 league games last season, picking up 25 wins and three draws while finishing seven points shy of the top two.
It is also worth noting that Braga scored more goals than second-placed Porto, while Os Arsenalistas also registered the third-best defensive record in the division.
On the flip side, Backa Topola experienced an indifferent pre-season, claiming back-to-back wins before suffering four successive defeats.
However, TSC kicked off their Serbian SuperLiga campaign by taking four points from a possible six, scoring three goals in each of their opening two matches.
After holding Partizan Belgrade to a 3-3 draw on the opening weekend, Backa Topola claimed a 3-0 victory over Radnicki Nis last time out.
TSC lost just six of their 37 league outing last term, notching 22 wins and nine draws in the process. On top of that, they posted the second-best defensive record.
Head-to-head: Tuesday’s clash is the first-ever meeting between Braga and Backa Topola, meaning there are no previous results to analyse for this clash.
Team news: Braga have made a number of signings this summer, bringing in the likes of Jose Fonte, Bruma, Rodrigo Zalazar, Vitor Carvalho and Victor Gomez.
Backa Topola have also been busy in the transfer market, signing Milos Pantovic, Peter Stanic, Jovan Vlalukin, Nikola Simic and Lazard Micic this summer.
Although Backa Topola have exceeded all expectations in recent times, the Serbian look set to struggle against the quality and experience of Braga.
Accordingly, Forebet predicts that Braga will claim a comfortable victory over Backa Topola on Tuesday, with the hosts expected to score over 3.5 goals.