Tuesday’s hosts, who currently sit 10th in the Portuguese second division, knocked out top-flight opponents in the previous round, though they didn’t exactly do so convincingly, while getting the better of Tondela is undoubtedly easier than coming up against the best team in the country.
Things haven’t gone too well for Leixoes of late; the second-tier side have won just one of their last five, while their performance when losing by a goal to nil away against Famalicao last time out was far from impressive. Fortunately, Tuesday’s hosts have done better on their own patch, where they’ve lost just one of their eight league matches during the current campaign.
When playing in front of a home crowd, Leixoes have been solid in their own division. The problem is that the club from Matosinhos haven’t played a team of Porto’s quality.
Given the disparity in quality between the two teams, it shouldn’t take too much for the visitors to come out on top, though they shouldn’t automatically be expected to run riot simply because they have more quality. For a start, Porto, who may rest some of their more important players, have made a habit of keeping things low-key on their travels this season.
Again, the visitors ought to have the quality to win without coming under much pressure, especially since giving little away has been a mainstay of their efforts on the road this season, but if we take into consideration the numbers, it’s easy to feel that the bet is opt for a visiting win that doesn’t get out of hand and thus Porto to Win & Under 3.5 Goals stands out.
Sporting have already won the Portuguese League Cup this season and now take on Benfica in the last four of the Portuguese Cup. The winners face either Braga or Porto in the final and this semi-final is played over two legs. Benfica will be hoping for a repeat of the weekend's league meeting between the two teams. They won that 4-2 and it was away at Sporting. That win makes it just one loss in the last seven and that was to league leaders Porto. At home, they have won seven in a row in all competitions and their last home loss to Sporting was in 2015.
The away side are fourth in the table but eight points adrift of the top two that would get them into the Champions League. Over 90 minutes they have gone four games without a win. Two of those were in the Portuguese League Cup but both were won on penalties winning them the trophy. Away form has been a problem this season with only three away league wins. Benfica can make home advantage pay and get a win here.