Betting tips for Sporting VS FC Porto 12.01.2019

The Estádio José de Alvalade hosts the great game of the 17th round, the last of the first round, in Liga NOS. Face to face two of the biggest Portuguese clubs, two chronically contenders for the title, but with completely different levels of pressure. Dragons have a good margin of punctuality, and although they always play to win, a draw might not be a bad result, given the enormous wear and tear that the team presents. However, the star of champion has been present, especially in the last games of this superb cycle of 18 consecutive victories. A must-win game for Marcel Keizer's team that has the difficult task of stopping the victorious path of FC Porto.

Marcel Keizer brought different things to Portuguese football, as Sérgio Conceição said. This Sporting is very different from the one that was guided by Jose Peseiro, and in the overall calculation is much better. Offensively the team is at a very high level, with an impressive average above 3 goals per game. However, if we exclude the thrashing to Qarabag, Vildemoinhos, Vorskla Poltava, Rio Ave and Feirense, all games without being the account for Liga NOS, there enters the first important data to take into account - the games of greatest difficulty were many.

Thus, if we focus only on the NOS League games, and those that were most demanding, here come to the top some problems still unresolved in the leonine team. The victory in Vila do Conde was even the best response of the lions, taking into account the degree of exigency that the game contained. Moreover, in the trips to Guimarães and Tondela, the lions lost even the two games, with results (1-0) and (2-1) respectively. Thus, the first big question lies precisely in the ability that Marcel Keizer's team will need to face FC Porto.

That is, in a classic, in games at this level, mistakes are expensive, and the greatest challenge of the lions will be able to raise their defensive consistency much more, since in the attack, hardly the team will not give a good answer .

FC Porto continues to add its next stopper, towards the renewal of the title. There are already 18 consecutive victories, and the first expectation is until when can prolong this triumphal series, because the physical wear has been tremendous. The Dragons lead the Liga NOS with 42 points, 5 advantage for 2nd place (Sporting Braga), 7 for Benfica and 8 for Sporting.

The blues and whites only lost points in 1 of the 7 trips, precisely in the Stadium of Light, and this was the last defeat, which marked the categorical recovery of the 18 games always to win. Also relevant is the fact that the team suffer very few goals, as a visitor. He conceded only 3 goals, 2 of which was in the first round at Belenenses and the other goal was at the Estádio da Luz.

This defensive solidity has been one of the master towers of the Dragons' success, where afterwards Marega, Soares and Brahimi contribute 18 of the 34 goals scored by the Dragons. But this winning streak is expected to be nearing completion, at least given the physical "limit" the team has shown in recent games. Even so, the quality and superb form of most players has made a difference, and even when the performance is not the best, it almost always ends up being resolved. For this meeting, Sérgio Conceição just can not count on Bruno Costa, Octávio and Aboubakar.


The first doubt will be how Sérgio Conceição will organize his 11, since the option has almost always been the 4-4-2, with Marega and Soares, but this game requires a reinforcement of the midfield, moreover with wear that the team has had. Thus, I believe that Sérgio Oliveira, or Óliver should integrate the eleven giving greater robustness to the midfield, especially in the recovery of the ball, and in the "control" to Bruno Fernandes.

Now, looking at this game, I see two very disparate teams. The Sporting attack is indeed very good, and with the return of Bas Dost will be a strong threat to the goal of the dragons. However, the first bet I saw as value was the handicap null for FC Porto, since I consider the blue and white team much more homogeneous and prepared for this match. Marcek Keizer does not yet have experience in classics, and in games of greater difficulty he hesitated. With the lions continuing defensively permeable, the chances of victory fall dramatically. But the handicap (0) is already at 1.54, and to that odd, to me it has no value.