Porto vs Estoril Preview

Topics: Estoril, Porto, Portuguese League

Estoril will travel to Porto looking to get their first victory at the Estadio do Dragao. The only time they did defeat Porto away from home was in 1943.

Porto's last match was not as pleasant as they would have wished for. Vitor Pereira's side traveled to Lisbon to take on Sporting who has been up and down all season. A 0-0 draw at the Estadio de Alvalade now puts Porto two points behind first placed Benfica.

It is not very often that the Dragoes are looking up at their rivals, so they will now need to make sure there are no more slip ups until the end of the season.

Friday, Porto will look to get back on track at home against an Estoril side that is trying to make their way into the top five spots in the Portuguese League. They have won their last two matches, with one coming at home against Sporting, while the latest match was a 0-2 victory in Vila do Conde, against Rio Ave.

Now in seventh place, Estoril could move into fifth with even a point, given the fact that Rio Ave and Maritimo have yet to play. The Estoril manager is well aware that this match will not be easy, but he expects his squad to score.

"Who ever plays at the Estadio do Dragao will not have it easy," said Marco Silva. "I expect Porto to play the same way as always, considering they are always expected to win, therefore the pressure is always there for them. We expect Porto to enter the match strong and looking to pressure us from the get go."

"We are going to play with the intent of scoring when we have the ball. For us to dispute this result, we will need to be very aggressive on offense."

The last time these two sides met, Estoril actually had an early lead, but two goals in three minutes from Silvestre Varela and Jackson Martinez earned Porto the full three points.

With a second leg Champions League match coming up for Porto against Malaga, Vitor Pereira does not want to think about that match before taking care of business against Estoril on Friday.

"We have to win the match against Estoril," Vitor Pereira told reporters. "That is the next obstacle that is between us and the league title. We are fully dependent on ourselves, and only ourselves to claim our primary goal of the season. Nothing has changed with the two points that we lost, the only change was the temporary loss of first place."