FC Porto vs. Feirense: Portuguese Primeira Liga Week 5 Preview
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Castro-c8590, where they will take on Feirense with the aim of securing nothing other than a comfortable three points despite the absence of their star players.
FC Porto:
The Portistas had to engineer a comeback in their mid-week game against Shakhtar Donetsk, where they went one down but replied with goals from Hulk and Kleber to earn victory at Estadio do Dragao.
Currently on top of the rankings, FC Porto are looking like the real deal once again this season despite losing the likes of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Radamel-Falcao-c30276 in the summer. Having already bagged 12 points from their opening four games, they will be a force to be reckoned
with.
Feirense:
After gaining promotion to the Primeira Liga following their 2nd place finish in Liga da Honra last campaign, many Feirense supporters would be content with securing their top-flight status for another 9 months but with the momentum the club are
going in, staying up seems relatively easy.
Two blank draws is not something to be proud of, but http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Quim-c30219 Machado’s men have also managed to get their first win of the Primeira Liga in their last fixture against Olhanense.
Sitting on the 9th position with 5 points, they will be looking to prevent the visitors from scoring and will try to catch them on the counterattack to keep things level between the two sides.
Team News:
FC Porto:
The Dragao are already exhausted due to their mid-week UEFA Champions League game and are likely to be without Brazilian International Hulk and Uruguayan defender http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Álvaro-Pereira-c5297.
Manager Vitor Pereira has already said that he is not taking this weekend’s opponents lightly and won’t be resting any players, despite the crucial clash with Benfica looming ever closer. With that it can be expected that the tactician will field his strongest
side, which is likely to include Fredy Guarin.
The Colombian was sent off in the UEFA Super Cup against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604, a couple of weeks ago, and was serving his ban against Shakhtar, meaning that he will definitely take to the field this time around.
Besides Hulk, everyone else escaped the last match unscathed and will take part in the trip to Santa Maria da Feira.
Feirense:
Unlike their counter-parts, Feirense do not have any mid-week distractions and will be fresh going into the game.
Manager Quim Machado has already lamented how strong the opposition is for this weekend and his woes have further worsened with injuries to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Anderson-c5565 are also facing late fitness tests for the visit of
the Portuguese champions.
Key Players:
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/FC-Porto-c39186: Fredy Guarin
Having missed the win over Shakhtar in the UEFA Champions League, Guarin will be looking to make a swift return to the squad and all eyes will be on him to get a result for the Dragons in the absence of talismanic forward, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Hulk-c16436.
Feirense: http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Miguel-Pedro-c25583
Despite not netting for his side in Liga Sagres, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Rolando-c31583 will not be easy by any standard
for the 27-year-old, but it is essential if the home side are to gain a result.
Prediction:
Feirense 1: 2 FC Porto
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