Braga vs Groningen Betting Tips

Braga started their Europa League campaign in the right way beating Slovan Liberec 1-0 in a relatively well-played game. The Portuguese side will be a tough out in this competition. They welcome Dutch side Groningen on Thursday, a team that will be looking to bounce back after suffering a tough 3-0 defeat to Marseille in their opening group game.

Braga are on a mini three-game winning streak and have picked up four wins in their last five games. They are a reliable performer, they can get forward and score goals, but like many of the Primeira Liga teams, their success will come from a good defensive core performance. They don’t have the deepest of squads and it’ll be interesting to see whether resting players becomes a factor, though the Portuguese domestic schedule hasn’t been as hectic as other leagues in recent weeks.

Groningen’s opening Europa League group game was somewhat uninspiring, though they were pitted against a talented opponent. The team’s success in Europa League play will probably come down to how well they are able to defend, and it wasn’t impressive in losing 3-0 to Marseille.

Three Reasons for Betting Tips

1. One plus one equals two

You don’t pit two teams with a similar, possession and defence-structured game plan on a field together and get a high-scoring game. We think Braga will control the flow of the game, but neither team is going at a high pace.

2. Doubting Groningen in Portugal

It’s just hard to see Groningen travelling to Portugal and scoring a lot of goals or securing an upset against a pretty solid Braga side.

3. Braga form

They’ve won three straight games and they’ve been playing pretty good football, we back them to keep that up in this match-up.