Braga vs Sporting Lisbon Odds & Prediction – Portugal Primeira Liga August 14

• Champions Sporting continue title defense on the road at 3:30 pm ET on Saturday
• Both teams made winning starts to campaign after encouraging pre-season build-ups
• See all odds & best bets for Braga vs Sporting Lisbon in the Portugal Primeira Liga August 14

Braga hosts Sporting Lisbon on Saturday in the first high-profile game of the new Primeira Liga season in Portugal.

It will be the second time the teams have met in two weeks.

Reigning champion Sporting was a 2-1 winner in the final of the nation’s curtain-raiser Super Cup on July 31.

Braga vs Sporting Lisbon Odds

Odds as of August 13 at DraftKings

Furthermore, that result made it four straight wins in recent fixtures for Sporting against last season’s Portuguese cup winners.

Meanwhile, last season’s title win was Sporting’s first since 2001-02 following years of domination by FC Porto and Benfica.

This time around, however, Sporting is favored only third to retain the title at +400 – behind Benfica at +110 and FC Porto at +120.

Sporting is, though, favored for a win at Braga at +120.

Braga Finished Fourth Last Season

Braga finished fourth last season and is priced at +245. The draw is +220 – with kick-off at 3:30 pm ET.

Both teams have made good starts in the Primeira Liga.

𝙎𝙐𝙋𝙀𝙍𝘾𝙐𝙋 🏆 🙌#SportingCP pic.twitter.com/KuVepHxivU

— Sporting CP English (@SportingCP_en) July 31, 2021

Both sides have bold attacking instincts with Sporting hitting 65 goals on their way to their title victory. So this suggests an open and free-scoring contest may be in store this weekend.

Sporting was a 3-0 winner at home against newly-promoted FC Vizela in Round 1 on August 6.

Sporting was in second place in the early standings with Braga in sixth spot.

Braga, moreover, also began well with a 2-0 win on the road at Maritimo last Saturday.

Ahead of this round of games, it put Sporting in second place in the early standings with Braga in sixth spot.

🚨 Luther Singh on his way to Denmark.
According to the newspaper 'O Jogo', Copenhagen reaches an agreement with SC Braga and guarantees the 24-year-old winger in exchange for 1.5 million euros for 80% of the pass.
The athlete was linked to the "Arsenalists" since 2016. pic.twitter.com/K9LXUacPWL

— World of Football (@Infogenuino) August 6, 2021

Portuguese international midfielder Pedro Goncalves scored twice in the defeat of Vizela – with the further goal added by Paulinho.

Furthermore, this followed Goncalves’ tally of 23 league goals last season – which made him the competition’s top scorer.

That run of form makes the DraftKings prop offer of +140 for Goncalves to score at any time against Braga a highly attractive one.

Defender Raul Silva, meanwhile, opened the scoring for Braga against Maritimo.

Last season’s leading marksman Ricardo Horta – who struck nine times in 2020-21 – then added a further goal in a comfortable win.

Braga vs Sporting Lisbon Statistics

After claiming five goals in pre-season, there is also an attractive offer of +240 for Horta to hit the target on Saturday

In the Super Cup clash on July 31 at the Estadio Municipal in Aveiro, Braga took the lead after 20 minutes through Brazilian midfielder Fransergio.

Prolific Goncalves Scored Super Cup Winner

There was an equalizer for Sporting within nine minutes from Jovane Carval.

Then Sporting’s winner was scored by the prolific Goncalves after 43 minutes.

Before the beginning of the league season, both these sides enjoyed encouraging pre-season build-ups.

Ahead of the Super Cup match, Sporting firstly began with a 2-2 draw at home against Portominense.

Then there subsequently came three straight wins.

Braga had a busy warm-up campaign playing eight friendlies without defeat.

Belenenses was beaten 2-1 at home with Angers of France then defeated 2-0. Finally, there was a 2-0 win against major French outfit Lyon.

Meanwhile, Braga had a busy warm-up campaign playing no fewer than eight friendlies without defeat.

There were four wins and four draws; including a 1-1 all-square result against French giants Marseille.

Sporting Has Solid Defense

Equally important to Sporting’s title win was a solid defense that conceded only 20 times in 34 games.

There was, moreover, only one defeat all season – with 26 wins and seven draws.

Braga, however, was not quite so potent upfront despite its desire to attack – scoring 53 goals while it conceded 33 times.

There were 19 wins, seven draws and eight defeats including two by Sporting.

https://youtu.be/d5KHOTpFTWw

At home last January, Sporting was a 2-0 winner against Braga.

There was subsequently a 1-0 win for Sporting away in the league in April.

Additionally, there was a 1-0 victory for Sporting in February the final of the Portuguese League Cup.

This is a different competition from the Taca De Portugal cup won by Braga in a 2-0 defeat of Benfica in May.

Injury-wise, Braga will be unable to call upon defenders Francisco Mora and David Carmo. Midfielder Iuri Madeiros is, meanwhile, also unavailable.

On this day 2003, #mufc signed Cristiano Ronaldo from Sporting Lisbon. And the rest is……

How much do you think young Cristiano would cost in today’s market? pic.twitter.com/sU1wH1GFQA

— 𝐊𝐢𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐭 (@UtdKismet) August 12, 2021

Sporting will be without Spanish midfielder Pedro Porro.

He was the goal scorer in the defeat of Braga in the League Cup final last winter.

To sum up, however, Sporting has begun the season in a buoyant goal-scoring mood. And the striking form of Goncalves makes him likely to hit the net once again this time around.

Pick: Pedro Goncalves to Score +140