Gabri Veiga and Mora miss Famalicão, Farioli plans changes at FC Porto | OneFootball

Francesco Farioli may be forced to make changes to FC Porto’s starting XI for the home match against Famalicão, in the 28th round of the Primeira Liga.

The issue is that Gabri Veiga picked up his fifth yellow card and will be suspended for that game. Even so, that is not the only concern for the Dragons’ coach, who may also be without Rodrigo Mora due to physical problems.

The Spanish midfielder has been an almost indispensable player for Farioli since the start of the season, having missed only two matches in the domestic league: against Sporting — after an injury in the moments leading up to the Clássico at Alvalade — and against Tondela, by technical decision.

This will be the third time Gabri Veiga is unavailable for the domestic competition, the second by obligation, since there is nothing he can do to be included on the match sheet against Famalicão on April 4, meaning he will be ‘forced’ to watch the game from the stands at the Dragão Stadium.

Although the blue-and-white number 10 has been absent for only a few matches, the truth is that FC Porto have not lost any of the games in which they were without the former Celta Vigo and Al Ahli Jeddah player, after beating Sporting 0-1 in the fourth round of the Primeira Liga and defeating Tondela 0-2.

Gabri Veiga has been crucial to FC Porto’s attacking play, with five goals and nine assists in 39 matches across all competitions, so he will be a significant absence for the Dragons.

With Gabri Veiga ruled out through suspension and Rodrigo Mora’s availability for Sunday’s clash on April 4 in doubt because of injury, the weight of Francesco Farioli’s decisions increases.

The Portuguese player suffered a muscle injury in the second leg of the Europa League round-of-16 tie against Stuttgart, according to FC Porto’s medical report, which led to the number 86 missing Roberto Martínez’s initial Portugal squad for the friendlies against Mexico and the United States.

While it is true that, under normal circumstances, midfield is one of the areas with the greatest depth in FC Porto’s squad, it is also true that the rotation in the more attacking midfield role has been shared between these two players.

That forces the Italian coach to consider a change, for example by deploying Seko Fofana in that role, even if it means a significant change in the way the team plays.

There is also an impact on the options from the bench, as there will be only one player left to provide cover in three positions, at a time when only four midfielders are fit in the Dragons’ first-team squad, which could make the closing stages of the match more difficult in the attempt to give the blue-and-white side more energy.

It will therefore be up to Francesco Farioli to manage this situation down to the smallest detail, to avoid overloading the squad just a few days before the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals against Nottingham Forest at the Dragão Stadium.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.