Boavista VS Vilafranquense

Boavista and Vilafranquense lock horns in this Portugal League Cup battle at Estádio do Bessa Século XXI in Porto early Monday morning Beijing time. The odds are definitely too high for the hosts here with the usually quite sharp, large bookmakers with a the biggest betting limits. The host have a 59% chance to win in my opinion. I have mentioned before that for most Liga Portugal teams this competition is not the main priority this season. This is the case here as well but the difference in pure class in substantial between the two teams. Boavista have many young, promising and hungry-for-success players to whom Boavista's coach Petit will probably offer a chance to prove their skills. Petit is an under-rated coach in my opinion. Boavisra are having an okay season so far – more o less meeting the expectations set by me, their fans or – I believe – most football analysts too.. They currently occupy the 11th place in the standings with 17 points to their account. Last season they finished in 12th place.

Boavista have not been in great form lately but did beat BSAD in their most recent games away from home 3-2 after a pretty convincing performance. They were the much better team and could easily have won by two goal's difference. It was also a League Cup match. They had 60% ball possession and recorded more goal attempts, shots on goal, attacks and dangerous attacks. In Liga Portugal they have not taken a win for a while but would have deserved much more points in terms of excpected points (xPTS) than the actual two points from their most recent five matches in this league. Vilafranquense cannot match the hosts in any area of the game. The difference between the 1st tier and 2nd tier is substantial. Especially offensively Boavista should have a massive edge their striker's individual skill-level is much better and they also pass the ball faster and more accurately. Vilafranquense have taken 21 points so far in Liga Portugal2 but thei xPTS is just 17. They do have a pretty solid defense but do not have the routine to play against teams's of Boavista's caliber. Boavista have good home fans and surely they want to boost their confidence here with a second win in a row against a lowly opponent! The hosts are the much bigger also by players' total market value (Transfermarkt.com) here.