Portugal Primeira Liga Matchday 31 Odds & Picks: Porto Eye Title in Match vs Tondela

• Porto hold a six-point lead over Benfica atop Portugal’s Liga NOS with four matches remaining and could secure the league title with a combination of a win and Benfica loss on Matchday 31
• The relegation race is well and truly on, with Portimonense currently occupying the last drop zone spot on 27 points; Vitoria Setubal (30), Tondela (30) and Belenenses (31) are also still in the relegation
• Get all the odds and best bets for Matchday 31 in Portugal below

Porto are -303 favorites for their Thursday trip to face relegation candidates Tondela (+775) and could take a giant step towards the club’s 29th Portuguese domestic title with a win.

Benfica are thinner -167 favorites in their visit to 5th-place Famalicao (+420), who find themselves in the middle of a European dogfight that few outside of the club would have expected last August when the season kicked off.

Matchday 31 lifts off on Wednesday, with Boavista (+161) hosting Maritimo (+175) at 2:00 pm EST.

Liga NOS Matchday 31 Odds

All odds taken July 7

Pick 1: Aves vs. Vitoria Setubal

It’s hard to overstate how terrible Aves (4-2-24) have been en route to becoming the first team relegated from Liga NOS this season; their only point since the restart somehow came against the likely champions Porto (0-0), they have not won since a mid-February win at Maritimo (0-2-9 in 11 games since) and they have not scored in six games since the restart.

With all that said, we are backing them — somewhat —at home against an also-floundering Setubal (6-12-12), who just rehired Lito Vidigal to try and salvage this sinking ship (0-1-5 post-COVID). The Vitorianos have conceded two or more goals in each of their last five matches, and most recently dropped a 3-2 decision at home against Pacos Ferreira.

It’s a battle of the two worst teams form-wise in the league and seems like the perfect chance for Aves to pick up possibly their last points as a Primeira Liga team for a long time.

PICK: Aves +0.5 (-110)

Pick 2: Tondela vs. FC Porto

It’s no surprise to see Tondela (7-9-14) battling near the relegation zone at this juncture of the season, nor is it rare to see them alternating between quality results (0-0 at Benfica, 1-1 at Belenenses) and disappointing results (1-3 vs. Pacos, 0-1 vs. Famalicao).

With soon-to-be-champions Porto (23-4-3) rolling into town, this could go one of two ways: A comfortable Porto win — the visitors have won six head-to-head meetings against Tondela on the hop — or a tense, low-scoring affair like the hosts’ 0-0 draw at Benfica just after the restart.

27 – FC Porto have scored the most goals from set pieces (27) and conceded the fewest in that fashion (3) among all teams in the Primeira Liga in 2019-20. Preparation. pic.twitter.com/CumMzC3BhB

— OptaJoao (@OptaJoao) July 7, 2020

Food for thought: This fixture ended 3-0 to Porto last season, but prior to that featured 1-nil Porto wins in 2015 and 2017 as well as a 0-0 draw in 2016.

PICK: U 2.5 (+105)

Pick 3: Pacos Ferreira vs. Sporting Braga

It’s hard to believe, but Pacos Ferreira (10-4-16) have been one of Portugal’s best teams post-COVID; their 4-0-2 run — only losses being at Sporting and vs. Porto — has lifted them from the relegation battle, and manager Pepa is working his usual late-season brilliance.

Braga (16-5-9) have been hit-and-miss out of the break, but remain within touching distance of 3rd-place Sporting; 4-0 win against last-place Aves last matchday aside, consistency has been a struggle for Artur Jorge’s squad.

The last edition of this fixture resulted in a 5-1 Braga win, but Pacos scored a pair of wins in the two meetings prior to that (2016, 2017).

PICK: Pacos Ferreira +0.5 (-107)