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Sports Mole previews Saturday's Primeira Liga clash between Braga and Vitoria de Guimaraes, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Seeking to move top of the Primeira Liga standings, Braga play host to Vitoria de Guimaraes at the Estadio Braga Municipal on Saturday.

Having lost their last two outings, Os Vimaranenses will head into the weekend aiming to avoid a third consecutive league defeat for the first time since February when they also lost three in a row.

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Match preview

Braga maintained their sensational start to the 2022-23 campaign as they inflicted a humbling 6-0 defeat on Arouca when the sides squared off at the Estadio Municipal de Arouca last Sunday.

Heading into the game on a run of two successive wins, Arouca were met by a spirited Braga side who hit four goals in the first half before substitutes Andre Castro and Diego Lainez added to the scoreline in the second period.

Having kicked off their league campaign with a thrilling 3-3 draw with Sporting Lisbon on August 7, Artur Jorge's men have won their subsequent three games, scoring a staggering 14 goals and keeping three clean sheets.

Os Arcebispos now return to their home turf where they are unbeaten in each of their last six competitive games across all competitions, claiming five wins and one draw since a 1-0 loss against Gil Vicente on March 13.

With their Europa League Group D opener against Malmo on the horizon, Braga will head into the weekend seeking to pick up a morale-boosting result and make it four consecutive Primeira Liga wins for the first time this year.

Meanwhile, Vitoria de Guimaraes were left empty handed for the second game on the bounce as they suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of newly-promoted Casa Pia last time out.

Despite seeing less than 40% of the ball possession and being under the cosh for most of the game, Takahiro Kunimoto's seventh-minute strike was enough to hand Filipe Martins's men their first set of consecutive victories since returning to the top flight.

Prior to that, Joao Teixeira's side saw their run of three straight wins come to an end on August 21, when they suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Portimonense, with Wellinton Junior and Yago Cariello finding the target to hand the Portimao outfit all three points.

Vitoria de Guimaraes head into the weekend winless in five of their last six away games across all competitions — losing twice and claiming three draws — with a 1-0 win at Chaves in their league opener on August 7 being the only exception.

While Os Vimaranenses will be looking to snap their losing streak and get their season back on track, next up is the stern test of taking on an opposing side who are unbeaten in 16 of the last 20 meetings between the teams, claiming 12 wins and four draws.

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Team News

Vitoria de Guimaraes will take to the pitch without Portuguese midfielder Tomas Handel after the 22-year-old sustained a muscle injury back in February.

Jorge Fernandes was an unused substitute against Casa Pia last time out after recently recovering from an injury that he sustained in the Europa Conference League qualifying game against Puskas Academy back in July and the 25-year-old could return to action this weekend.

Meanwhile, Jorge could stick with the starting XI that eased to an emphatic victory over Arouca last weekend, meaning that we could see an attacking duo of Vitor Oliveira and former Famalicao man Simon Banza, who already has five goals to his name this season.

Ricardo Horta, Andre Horta, Mutassim Al-Musrati and Iuri Medeiros should retain their roles at the centre of the park, while Sikou Niakate and Vitor Tormena should form a centre-back pairing for the fifth consecutive game.

On the injury front, Braga remain without Spanish defender Victor Gomez, who is set to sit out his fourth consecutive game after coming off injured in the league opener against Sporting Lisbon on August 7.

Braga possible starting lineup:
Lima; Fabiano, Tormena, Niakate, Sequeira; Medeiros, A Horta, Al-Musrati, R Horta; Banza, Oliveira

Vitoria de Guimaraes possible starting lineup:
Varela; Maga, Villanueva, Amaro, Sa; Silva, Bamba; Lameiras, Almeida, T Silva; A Silva

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We say: Braga 2-0 Vitoria de Guimaraes

Braga have flown out of the blocks this season and will head into the weekend in sky-high confidence. They take on an out-of-sorts Vitoria de Guimaraes side who have suffered a slump and we are backing Os Arcebispos to come away with all three points.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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