Porto take on the visitors AFS in the round 16 match of Liga Portugal. The match will be played on Monday, December 29th at Estádio do Dragão (Porto).
Porto have recently been pushed down to third place by Benfica and Sporting. They were also far from their best last season, once again finishing behind those two rivals. There are still some issues now as well, with the League Cup exit after a loss to Vitória Guimarães standing out. However, things look much better in the other competitions. In the Europa League, the Portuguese side have already recorded four wins and collected 13 points. Most importantly, the arrival of the new head coach Farioli in the summer has brought an excellent start in the Primeira Liga, where Porto climbed to first place and even managed to create a gap over the Lisbon clubs. In the latest round against Alverca, they had no problems at all, cruising to a convincing 3–0 win. Recent league performances show that Porto are gaining confidence and consistency from match to match. At home in particular, they are setting the tempo early and rarely allowing opponents to stay competitive for long.
| 2 x £10 Free Bet | Review | |||
| 100$-500$ for No Lose Free Bets | Review | |||
| 100% up to £200 | Review | |||
| Not available | Review |
AVS are becoming another example of the “second-season syndrome”. The Red and Whites are incredibly young, as they are officially considered to have been founded only in 2023. The project created after a merger was initially very successful, earning immediate promotion to the Primeira Liga and then managing to survive there, albeit with difficulty, finishing 16th and later beating Vizela in the playout. This season, however, the positives have mostly come in the cup competitions, where they managed to get through several rounds. In December, they even beat Vitória Guimarães away from home, with a single goal before the break proving decisive. In the Primeira Liga, though, the underdogs have only occasionally managed to cling to draws and have yet to record a win, which explains why they are stuck at the very bottom of the table. In the last round against Nacional, they at least managed to earn a 2–2 draw. Their recent results suggest ongoing defensive instability and a lack of control over matches. Even when they score, AVS struggle to protect leads and turn decent performances into victories.
Before last season, the clubs simply had no opportunity to face each other. In the 2024/2025 campaign, Porto beat the league debutants twice without conceding. The Dragons are rightly seen as the clear favorites in this matchup. The best option here is to back Porto to win with a handicap of -2 goals.
Prediction for the match: Porto to win with -2.0 handicap.
