Vizela take on the visitors Sporting Lisbon in the round 18 match of Liga Portugal. The match will be played on Thursday, January 18th at Estádio do Vizela (Caldas de Vizela).
Vizela are having a very weak season and are currently positioned second to last in the championship table, in the relegation zone. However, I am not here to criticize the hosts. On the contrary, I am here to believe in their goal against a formidable opponent. Despite their match results, Vizela have recently been consistently accurate in scoring, finding the net in four out of the last five rounds. They secured draws away with a similar score of 1-1 against Rio Ave and Estrela, and suffered defeats at home to Boavista and Braga, with scores of 1-4 and 1-3, respectively.
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It's unlikely that even the boldest skeptic would doubt the visitors' ability to score in this match. Sporting are leading the country's championship, one point ahead of Benfica, and approaches this game with a four-game winning streak. In 17 matches, the lions have scored 40 goals. The visitors, purely on their class, are obliged to score a minimum of 1-2 goals, even against the league's outsider, Vizela, even away. But will the favorite keep a clean sheet? I think it's unlikely. Recently, Sporting secured victories over Porto (2-0) and Shavish (3-0). However, in just two out of the last eight matches, Lisbon's team managed to keep their goal intact. Sporting's defense is not perfect; they conceded 17 goals in 17 league matches, exactly one goal per game on average.
Undoubtedly, the visitors are the favorites in this match and should ideally take three points here based on their class. Most likely, this will happen, but I don't want to guess what the handicap will be. Another bet caught my attention. In the last eight league rounds, Sporting kept a clean sheet only twice. Vizela, despite being second to last in the championship table, looks quite decent in attack and left the field without a precise shot only once in the last six league rounds. Moreover, despite losing all three head-to-head matches against Sporting in 2023, Vizela managed to score in all of them: 1-2, 1-2, 2-3. I believe that even now, on their home turf, Vizela can upset the favorites. However, Sporting's powerful attack is unlikely to leave with a zero in the goals scored column. I will try to catch the excellent Both Teams to Score bet at almost 2.0 odds.
Prediction for the match: Both teams to score – yes.
