Vitoria de Guimaraes host Porto at Estadio D. Afonso Henriques on Wednesday night, seeking a first-leg advantage in their Taca de Portugal semi-final.
The Conquerors aim to reach the competition's final for the first time since 2016-17, while the Dragons, two-time defending champions, chase a historic three-peat.
Match preview
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Vitoria de Guimaraes defeated Gil Vicente 3-1 in the quarter-final to reach this stage of the competition.
Tiago Silva and Andre Silva put them two goals ahead before Murilo de Souza Costa pulled one back for Gil Vicente in the 37th minute. Jota Silva restored the two-goal advantage before half time.
Alvaro Pacheco's men followed that win with consecutive league draws against Benfica and Portimonense before succumbing to Casa Pia. However, they have now won their last four matches, culminating in a 1-0 victory over Moreirense.
Vitoria de Guimaraes, who lifted the Taca de Portugal once in 2012-13, have reached the final seven times, finishing runners-up on six occasions. Their last final appearance came six seasons ago, ending in defeat to Benfica.
This marks the first of three meetings against Porto in two weeks, with the Conquerors seeking their first win against the Dragons since 2018, having lost 11 of their last 12 encounters, drawing just once.
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Porto enter this match on the back of a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Estoril Praia on Saturday - a game that saw two red cards for the Dragons and one for their opponents.
Goalkeeper Diogo Costa received his marching orders in the 65th minute, and Estoril capitalised on the numerical advantage with Cassiano's goal four minutes later. The closing stages saw further drama as Porto had a second player sent off when Francisco Conceicao received a second yellow card, before Estoril's Bernardo Vital was also shown a red card.
With Sporting Lisbon leading the Primeira Liga by 10 points, a League Cup exit and Champions League elimination, the Taca de Portugal represents Porto's only realistic hope for silverware this season.
The Dragons reached this stage by beating Santa Clara 2-1 in the quarter-final. Since then, they have won three out of five matches, with the Champions League defeat to Arsenal preceding their weekend loss to Estoril in this period.
Team News
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Vitoria de Guimaraes will still be without Cape Verde midfielder Telmo Arcanjo, who's been sidelined since rupturing his cruciate ligament in May 2023.
First-choice goalkeeper Bruno Varela is back in contention to start after recovering from a muscle problem in their last league outing.
Jota Silva, Vitoria's top scorer in the Taca de Portugal, is expected to keep his place on the left wing.
For Porto, they remain without Nigerian full-back Zaidu Sanusi, who suffered an ACL injury upon returning from the Africa Cup of Nations in February.
Fellow defender Ivan Marcano has also been out since sustaining an ACL injury in September's game against Estrela Amadora, joining Gabriel Veron who's out with the same issue.
Evanilson, the competition's top scorer with seven goals in four matches, is expected to spearhead Porto's attack once again alongside Wanderson Galeno and Conceicao.
Vitoria de Guimaraes possible starting lineup:
Charles; Silva, Borevkovic, Ribeiro; Gaspar, T. Silva, Handel, Mangas; J. Silva, Oliveira, Mendes
Porto possible starting lineup:
Costa; Mario, Pepe, Otavio, Wendell; Eustaquio, Varela, Pepe; Conceicao, Galeno, Evanilson
We say: Vitoria de Guimaraes 1-2 Porto
This first leg encounter will likely be a tight affair with both sides looking to be cautious ahead of the return leg. Porto, the favorites, will control possession but Vitoria will aim for counter-attacks. We expect a cagey affair but Porto have enough quality to edge it.
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