Portsmouth vs Northampton Prediction & Betting Tips (3 February)

FC Porto hosts Rio Ave at home this Saturday, February 3 for the 20th day of Liga Portugal. The locals are currently 3rd in the championship, 4 points behind their historic rival Benfica, currently 2nd, and 5 points behind Sporting, the sole leader. There is a big gap between the podium and the rest of the ranking, so the objective for Porto is clear: to catch up with its competitors by winning this home match. Porto is currently on a good run with 4 consecutive victories in all competitions. All of these victories ended with a large margin of at least 2 goals. Overall, Porto remains on a series of 7 matches without defeat.

On the other hand, Rio Ave is the perfect opposite with a 16th place in the league and therefore remains the first relegated team. With only 16 points acquired in 18 matches, Rio Ave has only one victory in the last 8 Liga Portugal matches. The last defeat in the league was against Benfica where they were humiliated 4 goals to 1 on the road. Overall, Rio Ave arrives in Porto with confidence at an all-time low and could suffer the consequences. The stakes for the locals are too high, we should logically see Porto largely dominating the debates.

Northampton have been involved in some pretty entertaining encounters recently, with seven of their previous eight top-flight matches producing goals at both ends of the pitch. Given that eight of the last ten Portsmouth games at this level have followed the same pattern, it would come as a bit of a surprise were either keeper to emerge from this contest with a clean sheet.