Porto will travel to Gil Vicente in the Taca de Portugal on Friday hoping to progress from the quarter-final stage and move one step closer to retaining their trophy.

Meanwhile, the hosts were pushed all the way in the last round of the competition as they came from behind against Academico de Viseu to win 3-2 in extra time.

Match preview

Porto managed to bounce back from their Taca de Liga semi-final defeat to Sporting Lisbon last week with a narrow 1-0 victory away at Farense in the Primeira Liga on Monday.

Mehdi Taremi's strike in the 15th minute was enough for Sergio Conceicao's side to move above rivals Benfica into second place, one point behind leaders Sporting Lisbon, who have a game in hand.

Conceicao will have been pleased that his side kept a clean sheet, having previously struggled defensively at times this campaign.

The Dragons have conceded 17 goals in their opening 15 league matches, with the likes of Belenenses and Friday's opponents Gil Vicente – both currently in the bottom half of the table – shipping fewer goals than the reigning Primeira Liga champions so far.

Porto head into their match with the Galos having won seven of their last nine meetings against them, although they did lose their last visit 2-1 at the Estadio Cidade de Barcelos in August 2019.

The Dragons, who won the Taca de Portugal for the first time in nine years last season, are hoping to reach their fourth successive semi-final with a win on Friday.

Gil Vicente, meanwhile, suffered their third successive league defeat as they narrowly lost 1-0 away to Braga on Tuesday night.

Milton Mendes's side failed to have a single shot on target and were caught out in the 73rd minute when Iuri Medeiros was played through on goal, and he placed his strike beyond goalkeeper Denis to secure all three points for the hosts.

The Galos remain in the relegation playoff position on 13 points, one point above the bottom two but now turn their attention to the Taca de Portugal, with hopes of causing an upset against the current holders.

Gil Vicente have already faced Porto this campaign, losing 1-0 away from home back in October, despite the hosts having a man sent off.

The Galos are looking to reach the semi-finals of the competition for the first time since the 2015-16 campaign - a year when they were eventually knocked out by Porto.

Gil Vicente Taca de Portugal form: WWW
Gil Vicente form (all competitions): LDLWLL

Porto Taca de Portugal form: WWW
Porto form (all competitions): WWWDLW

Team News

Gil Vicente will be without Brazilian forward Miullen as he is sidelined with a knee injury, while centre-back Diogo Silva, who has missed the last 12 matches, also remains on the treatment table.

Manager Mendes could revert to the 3-4-3 formation that he used in the last meeting with the Dragons.

Porto are one of many Portuguese sides to have experienced a coronavirus outbreak that has sidelined a number of their first-team stars.

Luis Diaz, Sergio Oliveira, Evanilson, Romario Baro, Carraca and Nanu have all tested positive for COVID-19 and are now self-isolating.

West Ham United loanee Felipe Anderson could be handed a start on the left wing, while strikers Moussa Marega and Mehdi Taremi are set to keep their places up front.

Gil Vicente possible starting lineup:
Denis; Nogueira, Rodrigao, Fernandes; Pereira, Mineiro, Goncalves, Talocha; Lourency, Lino, Leautey

Porto possible starting lineup:
Costa; Manafa, Pepe, Liete, Sanusi; Corona, Uribe, Grujic, Anderson; Marega, Taremi

We say: Gil Vicente 0-2 Porto

Despite Porto missing several first-team players due to coronavirus, the reigning Taca de Portugal winners should still have enough quality in their side to overcome Gil Vicente on Friday night and reach the semi-finals.

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