Liga NOS Matchday 29 Odds & Picks: Betting Intrigue Across Portugal

• The title race remains red-hot in Portugal’s Liga NOS entering Matchday 29, with Benfica trailing Porto by three points and both set to hit the road.
• 6th-place Rio Ave (+245) host 4th-place Braga (+105) in a game with plenty of European intrigue
• Get all the odds and best bets for Matchday 29 in Portugal below

Porto regained sole possession of first place in Liga NOS last week, as a 4-0 rivalry win over Boavista lifted them clear of Benfica following the latter’s wild 4-3 defeat vs. Santa Clara.

Sergio Conceicao’s league leaders are -233 favorites travelling to Paços Ferreira (+700), while Benfica are tipped at -204 to take all three points home on their visit to Maritimo (+600).

Elsewhere, matches like Aves-Moreirense and Rio Ave-Braga offer value for savvy bettors.

From the top-5 to the relegation zone, there is betting intrigue across the board in Portugal — check out our best betting predictions as we explore Matchday 29.

Liga NOS Matchday 29 Odds

All odds taken June 27

Aves vs Moreirense

The writing is on the wall for Aves (4-2-22) as they enter Monday’s match against Moreirense (8-11-9), as they sit dead-last and 14 points south of safety with 18 possible points left on the board this season.

Every year in Portugal, there seems to be one team that just isn’t able to compete weekly — Feirense last season, Nacional in 2016-17, etc. — and unfortunately Aves have been that side; an 0-1-3 record since the restart has doomed them as other relegation-battle clubs have picked up wins.

Moreirense are trucking along, solidly mid-table with points in three of their first four games since the COVID break, and have been steady defensively for long stretches this season.

Aves have lost four of their last five at home, and Moreirense has not lost (2-3-0) in their last five road outings.

Pick: Moreirense (-111)

Rio Ave vs Braga

With Braga (15-5-8) somewhat topsy-turvy out of COVID and Rio Ave (12-8-8) having won two of their last three matches, Tuesday’s showdown in Vila do Conde presents an interesting affair.

Oddly, Carlos Carvalhal’s Rio Ave have been more vulnerable at home (4-5-5) than on the road (8-3-3) — and Braga are a very capable team away from home (7-2-5).

With Tuesday’s visitors chasing Sporting in the race for third, and Rio Ave in a tight race with Famalicao for fifth, it’s a key clash.

It’s worth noting that Rio Ave has won this fixture against Braga in three of the last four years by identical 1-0 scorelines.

Pick: under 2.5 (-120)

Sporting vs Gil Vicente

Sporting (16-4-8) have sprung to life under expensive new manager Ruben Amorim — lured away from Braga earlier this season — and raced out of the restart with a 3-1-0 record.

Gil Vicente (8-9-11) are enjoying a better return to the top flight than most had likely envisioned, with grizzled boss Vitor Oliveira getting the job done.

4 – Jovane Cabral has either scored or assisted in each of Sporting's four games since the Primeira Liga restarted (4 goals, 1 assist); he has scored more goals in his last three appearances (4) than in his previous 26 league games combined (3). Form.#BELSCP pic.twitter.com/hNz59CWwPS

— OptaJoao (@OptaJoao) June 26, 2020

However, this should be a wash: Sporting is in excellent form, and is the second-best home win rate (71%) in the Liga; Gil Vicente, on the other hand, have won just three of their 14 road matches (21%) and lost both of their away outings since the restart — against far lesser sides (Maritimo and Portimonense) than Sporting.

Pick: Sporting -1 (-112)