Porto could capitalise on Lisbon derby to strengthen their lead | OneFootball

The ‘dragons’, who lead the championship with a three-point advantage over the two-time national champions and six over Benfica, play on Sunday at the stadium of a team that has yet to win any of its five home matches, after their Lisbon rivals opened the round on Friday at Estádio da Luz.

The team managed by the Italian Francesco Farioli, who on Thursday faces Vitória de Guimarães in the League Cup quarter-finals, is enjoying an almost perfect start: 11 wins in 12 games, with only one draw, in the eighth round, against Benfica (0-0).

FC Porto travels to Tondela, the not-so-friendly ground of the 16th-placed team, which on Saturday secured its second victory in the 2025/26 Primeira Liga at Gil Vicente, but still hasn’t managed to win in front of its own fans, who have witnessed three defeats and two draws.

History also favors the ‘dragons’: in seven previous trips to Tondela, they have only failed to win once, which gives them good prospects to take advantage of the ‘spoils’ from the Lisbon derby—a result that, in case of defeat, would penalize Benfica more.

Sporting de Braga, a usual contender for fourth place, seems to be having more difficulty achieving it this year and now sits in sixth place; they will face a tough test on Saturday at Famalicão, who are fifth, in the first of two matches exclusively between Minho teams.

On Monday, in the match that closes the 13th round, Vitória de Guimarães, currently eighth, hosts Gil Vicente, the surprise team at the start of the championship, which, even in case of defeat, can only be matched by Famalicão for fourth place.

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