Porto kick off their defence of the Taca de Portugal trophy with an away meeting against Vilar de Perdizes on Friday.

The hosts, who compete in the fourth tier of Portuguese football, will be looking to pull off an almighty upset against the 19-time winners of the competition.

Match preview

Vilar de Perdizes have made a steady start to their league campaign, having picked up eight points from their opening six matches in Group A of the Campeonato de Portugal.

While they have claimed two league victories this season, their most convincing win of the campaign took place in the previous round of the cup.

A Paulo Costa hat-trick as well as goals from Jhon Renteria and Andre Mendy guided Vilar de Perdizes to a dominant 5-1 victory over Vasco da Gama.

Since that result, Vilar de Perdizes have gone on to play out two straight draws in league meetings with Limianos and Ribeirao.

Having avoided defeat in their last three home matches, Vilar de Perdizes will look to make full use of home advantage and provide Porto with a competitive cup tie.

Porto are hoping to win the Taca de Portugal for the third straight season after they beat Braga in last season's final to retain the trophy.

Their cup success ensured that Porto would participate in August's Super Cup meeting with rivals Benfica, which ultimately ended in a disappointing 3-0 defeat.

Sergio Conceicao's side bounced back from their Super Cup loss by embarking on a seven-game unbeaten run in all competitons (W6, L1), but their positive run of form was brought to an abrupt end by consecutive defeats to Benfica and Barcelona in the Primeira Liga and Champions League respectively.

They at least managed to pick up a victory in their most recent outing after Evanilson's ninth-minute strike guided Porto to a narrow 1-0 win over Portimonense, ensuring that they went into the international break in third position.

Porto are unbeaten in 15 away matches in the Taca de Portugal, and they will be supremely confident about extending that run against their lower-league opponents.

Team News

Daniel Gomes is expected to have a busy night in the Vilar de Perdizes goal, but he will be hoping to receive some much-needed support from his backline.

Jane Moreno is set to operate in a central-defensive pairing with Pedro Parente, while Alisson Santos and Andre Raymond are likely to feature as the two full-backs.

After scoring a hat-trick in the previous round, Costa will look to offer a goal threat in Friday's contest, although he may find chances few and far between.

As for the visitors, they are still expected to be without the services of Pepe and Zaidu Sanusi, while Ivan Marcano is a long-term absentee.

They will have one eye on Wednesday's Champions League clash with Royal Antwerp, which may result in a number of fringe players being given a starting opportunity.

The likes of Francisco Conceicao, Ivan Jaime, Danny Namaso and Toni Martinez could all be given the chance to impress in Friday's cup tie.

Vilar de Perdizes possible starting lineup:
Gomes; Santos, Parente, Moreno, Raymond; Mendy, De Armas, Miguel, Tirado, Renteria; Costa

Porto possible starting lineup:
Costa; Mario, Ze Pedro, Cardoso, Wendell; Conceicao, Nico, Jaime, Evanilson; Namaso, Martinez

We say: Vilar de Perdizes 0-4 Porto

Even though Porto are likely to give several squad players the chance to start Friday's cup tie, they have enough strength-in-depth to claim a comfortable victory over their fourth-tier opponents.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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