Matchday 23 of Liga Portugal will see the clash between GD Chaves and FC Porto on Saturday night. Porto are placed second in the Liga Portugal standings with 51 points, while Chaves occupies the 13th spot with 26 points in the bag. In the last Liga Portugal meeting between the two sides, Porto cruised to a comfortable 3-0 win at home and will look to secure maximum points once again. Meanwhile, Chaves are the hosts this time and will be eager to pose a tough challenge to the visitors on home territory. Below, we look at the stats of both teams from the current season to comprehend how this matchup could play out.
How have the teams performed?
The above viz shows the percentile rank of both teams compared with each other as well as with other teams in Liga Portugal 2022–23. In almost all indicators, Porto has a substantially higher percentile rank than Chaves. The Dragons are one of the top performers this season, with dominant stats in most of the attacking, passing, and defending indicators. Alternatively, a couple of areas where the hosts have a better rank or are at par are penalty area touches and PPDA.
In Liga Portugal 2022–23, Chaves have won six, drawn eight, and lost eight matches out of 22 thus far. They have scored 21 goals and conceded 28 in total. The average xG rate of the team is 1.21, while their average xGA rate is 1.79. Chaves is currently amidst a poor run of form, winning only once in their last five matches and being winless in the last three fixtures.
On the other hand, Porto have won 16, drawn three, and lost three. They have scored 49 goals past the opposition and average 2.16 xG per match. The defence has conceded only 14 goals in return, with an average xGA of 0.84. Sergio Conceicao’s side saw their excellent unbeaten run since October come to an end after losing to Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League, followed by a 1-2 defeat to Gil Vicente in Liga Portugal last week. Therefore, Porto will want to bounce back in the upcoming match against Chaves.
Positional attacks, entries to the penalty box, and recoveries in the opposition half
The two visuals above compare the two teams based on positional attacks and entries to the opposition penalty box per 90 minutes. While the teams are close in terms of the efficiency of positional attacks, the disparity between them is highlighted by the difference in their rankings on the second list.
Chaves creates 24.45 positional attacks on average, with 28.8% leading to shots. They are joint third among the efficiency rates for positional plays and have an average rank with 13 penalty area entries per match. We can expect the hosts to focus on staying defensively compact and trying to contain Porto’s attacking threats.
Alternatively, Porto creates 33.23 positional attacks per match, with 30.4% leading to shots. The Dragons also make 21 entries to the penalty box per match. They have the highest efficiency rate for positional plays and are the second-best team in terms of penalty area entries. We can expect Porto to dictate play by controlling possession and trying to win by a handsome margin.
Another area of disparity between both teams is recoveries in the opposition half. With 12 recoveries in the attacking half per match, Porto is third on the list. Meanwhile, Chaves recovers the ball eight times in the opposition’s half on average and is towards the bottom of the list. Overall, the home team makes an average of 80.55 recoveries per match, compared to 85.27 recoveries by the visitors.
Key player for Porto
Mehdi Taremi will pose a significant amount of threat when Porto goes forward. He has shown sublime form and is among the top goal contributors in the league with 12 goals and five assists. He attempts 2.83 shots per match with 42.6% accuracy and has an xG per shot of 0.13. Chaves’s defenders will have the task of nullifying the Iranian’s star presence inside the penalty area to achieve a positive result from this tough fixture.
Team news
Chaves will be without the services of Jonny Arriba due to injury and Joao Teixeira because of suspension. The rest of the Chaves players will be available for selection.
Porto are recovering from their injury crisis but will still be without the trio of Gabriel Veron, Galeno, and Evanilson. Meanwhile, Joao Mario and Mateus Uribe will be unable to play after being sent off in the last match. The visitors will be without some key players and will look for other members of the squad to step up.
This will be an exciting matchup to look out for in Liga Portugal. Porto is the firm favourite on paper despite heading into a tricky away fixture. They will be determined to bounce back into form by securing maximum points and preventing slipping away further from the title race. Meanwhile, Chaves will be motivated to pose a tough challenge on home territory. They will try to secure a positive result to improve their position in Liga Portugal.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine
