Porto put their perfect Primeira Liga start on the line on Saturday night when they host Estoril Praia, with the league leaders five points clear after winning all nine of their opening fixtures. Estoril Praia arrive at the Estadio do Dragao bottom of the standings, five points adrift of safety and still without a league victory.
That is why the FC Porto vs G.D. Estoril Praia standings search now has a simple answer: Porto have 27 available points, Estoril Praia have none from the kind of start that leaves them rooted to the foot of the table. The gap is not just in points. Porto have conceded a league-low four goals and have already beaten Gil Vicente 1-0 last weekend and Academico de Viseu 1-0 in the Taca da Liga quarter-finals in midweek, a run that has Francesco Farioli at 50 wins in 67 competitive matches since taking charge.
For Porto, the domestic picture is clean and convincing. For Estoril Praia, it is much harder to dress up. They have lost their last four league matches, scored only five league goals and have gone down in all four of their league away matches this season. Their latest setback, a 3-1 home defeat to Moreirense last weekend, left them as the only side yet to register a Primeira Liga victory this season.
The clubs have met in uneven circumstances before and the recent record offers little comfort to the visitors. Porto have beaten Estoril Praia in each of their last four meetings, and the home side are also expected to get key players back, with Diogo Costa, Jan Bednarek and Jakub Kiwior likely to return to the starting lineup. William Gomes is expected to miss out with an ankle injury, Vasco Sousa remains sidelined with a broken fibula, Oskar Pietuszewski is doubtful with a minor thigh muscle problem and Chris Smalling still needs assessment after a knock in the cup tie.
Estoril Praia, meanwhile, remain without Israel Salazar and Fabricio Garcia because of knee ligament injuries, while Yanis Begraoui has missed the last three matches. Leandro Pires inherited a side that has not yet found a league win since replacing Vasco Matos in mid-October, and Saturday gives them no gentle introduction. Porto have looked dominant enough to keep their cushion intact, but they have also gone through a spell of uncertainty at the back and have suffered consecutive Champions League defeats, which means the next test is not the one in front of them now but the one waiting next week against Napoli.
