NACIONAL v SPORTING BRAGA
Primeira Liga
Friday 18th January 2019
Kickoff: 1845hrs
Pick: Braga AH-0.25
Bookmaker: Marathonbet
Odds: 1.56 (odds taken at 00:53 GMT, 18 Jan 2019)
The Portuguese Primeira Liga action continues with bottom half outfit Nacional taking on high-flying Sporting Braga as the betting tips continue at the Estádio da Madeira with the hosts looking to avoid a third league defeat on the trot.
Primeira Liga Betting at Marathonbet
Nacional Prediction
Nacional have struggled for any kind of consistency in the Portuguese top flight so far in this campaign and as a result they duly sit in 12th place on the Primeira Liga ladder with a tough fixture coming up this Friday night.
The hosts have lost three of their last five league matches overall with defeats to Sporting CP, Porto and Belenenses – the latter two results being back-to-back defeats which ended 3-1 and 1-0 respectively against Nacional.
Nacional’s home record stands at an inconsistent 3-1-5 5/11 and they were on the end of a 1-0 loss to Belenenses last time out on home turf, but they’d previously put together a promising looking four-match run without defeat.
Prior to that though, Nacional had lost their previous eight matches at home on the trot!
Key-Facts – Nacional v Braga
- Nacional have lost 3 of their last 5 league matches
- Sporting Braga are unbeaten in their last 3 matches
- Sporting Braga are undefeated in their last 8 visits at Nacional in all competitions
Braga Prediction
Sporting Braga sit in third place and just one point behind second placed Benfica as they prepare for their trip to face Nacional on the back of a three match sequence without defeat which will give them confidence in getting something here on Friday night.
Recent wins over Maritimo and Boavista with 2-0 and 1-0 home wins respectively was followed up with a point on the road at Portimonense in a 1-1 draw, and with a fairly good away record of 3-3-2 12/12 under their belts, the visitors look in fairly good shape to get at least a point in this clash.
However, Braga have managed to record just one away win from their last five road trips which was a 1-0 win at Tondela, but defeats at Porto and Benfica, the latter being a 6-2 thrashing, perhaps shows they’re some way off from posing a serious threat to the top two clubs in the Primeira Liga.
Betting Tips Verdict
Nacional continue to struggle to gain consistent results, but although they’ve lost away at Porto and Benfica, Braga should be able to bounce back with a win at Nacional this evening.
