Belenenses vs Braga Predictions

• Braga have failed to win five of their last ten away Primeira Liga games.
• Belenenses have avoided defeat in four of their last five home league contests.
• Belenenses have avoided defeat in three of their last four meetings with Braga.

Belenenses have enough fire in their bellies to bully Braga

Braga were compact and clinical on Monday as they ended champions-elect Porto’s 58-game undefeated domestic run, but this trip to Jamor to face Belenenses will require a different skillset. Carlos Carvalhal’s young team have shown themselves to be capable of beating anyone on their day this season, although there can still be occasional missteps.

Detecting where the value lies in Saturday’s fixture isn’t easy as Braga have won more than half of their last eight away league games and have won all three road games against the bottom five clubs. But the Arsenalistas have only beaten Belenenses, who have won three of their last five home league games, once in their last four meetings.

Franclim Carvalho has galvanised a flagging squad to give Belenenses a fighting chance of survival with three games to go. Two of those games are against sides they could realistically overtake but not this one as Braga are guaranteed fourth spot and the Europa League again next term. The hosts’ abundant spirit was on show in the second half at Estoril last weekend when Carvalho’s side came back from the dead to claim a 2-2 draw, sparking wild celebrations that led to two of their players being sent off.

Braga must learn to kill off inferior opponents

False nine Abel Camará and left-back Diogo Calila serve one-match bans here as a result, but they have no injuries and the squad depth can cover for the absentees. It seems strange to conclude that the bottom club could beat the team that has just overturned the champions-in-waiting, but that’s how it seems to us.

Braga rarely put teams away, even the strugglers, away from home which has come back to bite them on more than one occasion this term. They have scored multiple goals in just three of their last 13 away games and this feels like a game where they will need two strikes to win as Belenenses have scored in six of their last eight at Jamor.

A 1-1 draw is the correct score forecast here because five of Braga’s last six away results have been either a direct hit or one goal away from an identical outcome.

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