Portugal Primeira Liga predictions and odds

To the average football fan, Primeira remains a surprisingly unfamiliar topic, especially compared to the likes of the Premier League or La Liga. Sure, we all know some excellent Portuguese players, but what about the national league that allowed for such players?

Betting Fellow provides the best Primeira Liga betting odds and predictions, but we can also help you get a deeper understanding of the ins and outs of the league going into the 2020/21 season. Strap in for a deep dive into the history, most important teams, and standout players of the highest level of Portuguese football.

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Portugal Primeira Liga Predictions

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Portugal Primeira League History and General Info

The competition as we know it today dates back to 1938. While an experimental, round-based competition called the Primera (or Premier) League existed before that, it served a different purpose. The title of national champions was instead decided by a knock-out tournament competition. This event is still around today as the Taça de Portugal and is Portugal’s biggest cup-style tournament, but the title of Champion is reserved for Primeira Liga winners. Importantly, any such titles won before 1938 no longer count as championships per the decision of the national football association.

Either way, a round-robin league-type competition was established with the reform. It was initially called the Campeonato Nacional da Primeira Divisão, or the National Championship of the First Division. This name was used until 1999. It initially consisted of only 8 teams, and teams from the administrative districts Porto, Coimbra, Lisboa and Setúbal were allowed. This quickly caused issues, though, and the league kept expanding over the years to include more districts and more teams.

Though it’s rarely seen in the same light as the “Big 5” of European national leagues, the reality is that it’s fairly close to them. It’s currently ranked sixth in UEFA’s national league ranking system. Interestingly, it once broke into the aforementioned Big 5 in the 2011-12 season by overtaking the French Ligue 1. Since then, however, France has risen to new prominence, so Primeira went back down to number 6. According to the International Federation of Football History & Statistics, though, its world ranking sits at an impressive 4th place. This ranking, however, takes into account all contributions and performances throughout the history of professional football leagues.

Speaking of history – most of Primeira’s is marked by the dominance of three major clubs – Benfica, Porto FC, and Sporting CP. These three took pretty much every championship title since the league’s founding, except for Belenenses in 1945–46 and Boavista in 2000–01. Benfica holds the record for most titles won in total with 37, followed by Porto’s 29 and Sporting’s 18. Generally, these three will also end up holding the top 3 positions in almost every season’s table. It’s worth noting that Sporting occasionally lags behind the former two.

As you might imagine, the rivalry between the fans and players of Portugal’s Big 3 can get quite heated. Their dominance, however, is a double-edged sword. The games between them often boast record-breaking attendance, but almost all other Portuguese teams suffer from it. As a result, Primeira Liga registers some of the worst attendance numbers among top-flight European national leagues.

Currently, the league consists of Portugals 18 best teams. The most recent change to this number was in 2015 when it was upped from 16. Besides that, Primeira Liga follows a fairly standard national league format. Over the course of a season, each team plays against every team twice – once at home and once away. Points are awarded in the usual 3/1/0 spread, and the team with the most points in total is named champion.

The bottom two teams are relegated to the Segunda Liga – the second tier of professional football in Portugal. Conversely, the two best-placed teams from Segunda Liga are promoted to the top flight.

The champions automatically directly enter the UEFA Champions League group stage. The runners-up instead go to the play-offs of the group stage. The third- and fourth-placed teams go to the Europa League along with the winners of the Cup of Portugal.

The all-time top goalscorer of the Primeira Liga is Fernando Peyroteo. He started playing for Sporting CP just 3 years after the league’s founding and ended up contributing 331 goals over 197 outings.

Primeira Liga Title Challengers

Based on the information above, it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out who the dominant teams are going into the 2020/21 season. That being said, it’s still worth looking at Primeira Liga outright betting odds to give us a quick overview of the balance of power between the Big 3. It can also prepare us for the unlikely event of another team making a Top 3 Finish.

According to top online bookmakers, Porto and Benfica are the strongest teams by a considerable margin. This is quite expected, but what’s interesting is that the 3rd ranking goes to Braga, as opposed to Sporting. This pretty much follows the 2019/20 rankings to the letter, as Braga did indeed take the 3rd position.

S.L. Benfica

Benfica are Portugal’s most decorated team at the national level. That being said, they lost the previous season to Porto. Either way, they are at least on par with the reigning champions. Experts and online sportsbooks agree that the Outright betting odds on these two teams are essentially equal.

Benfica use an aggressive, high-pressure approach to tactics spearheaded by a powerful midfield with players such as Dias and Pizzi. Throw in their star-studded flanks with the likes of Grimaldo and Éverton, and you get a deadly combination.

FC Porto

The reigning champions from Portugal’s north are gearing up for another winning season, and Benfica are the only ones that can really stand up to them. Arguably, Porto’s lineup consists of less famous individual players. However, they combine into one of the toughest clubs on the continent right now and are sure to be favourites in almost every matchup.

It’s hard to argue against the results of Porto’s strikers such as Marga and Fabio Silva. However, the most often-praised part of their lineup is the defensive line. It’s made up of standout football stars such as Alex Telles and team captain Danilo Perreira.

Sporting CP

Though the Leões are undoubtedly part of the Big 3, they’ve been seen as slightly weaker than the other two since the turn of the century. Their latest championship title is from 2001/02 – though they did win the Taça de Portugal two seasons ago.

At odds of 34.00 for an outright win, though, they’re the fourth most likely team to walk away as champions. It’s worth noting that Sporting is famed for its academy and regularly produces amazing young players. This means that their roster, composed of rising stars like Pedro Porro, Wendel, and Jovane Cabral may yet surprise us.

SC Braga

The Minhotos are one of the very few teams outside the Big 3 that have ever been able to hold a torch up to them. Last season’s 3rd place was not the first time Braga managed to break into the top 3, but it’s what caused the bookies to price a championship title win from Braga at 32.00. It doesn’t sound great – but it’s certainly better than the odds of Sporting.

Braga’s recent success is largely attributed to their acclaimed forwards. Striker Paulinho is one of Portugal’s most feared strikers, backed by solid wings with the likes of Ricardo Horta and Galeno.

Primeira Liga Relegation Favourites

Now let’s look at the other side of the spectrum – the terms least likely to make the cut for next year.

CD Nacional

The Alvinegros are one of the two teams freshly promoted from Segunda Liga, and most opinions agree that they’re likely not up to the high standards of Portugal’s top league. Though they’ve made a lot of changes to their lineup in anticipation of the coming challenges, it’s debatable whether they were all for the better.

CD Tondela

Though Tondela have managed to stay in the Primeira Liga since 2015, it always seems to be by the skin of their teeth. Some of their more noteworthy rising stars have left for bigger teams over the summer, leaving Tondela with a very hard upcoming season.

SC Farense

Though this team’s recent transfers seem to be hinting that they’re getting ready to punch above their weight class, experts are sceptical. It’s important to remember that they’re still freshly promoted, which always makes for a clear underdog. Either way, at odds of over 2000.00 for a win, they’re not heading into an easy year.

Primeira Liga Top Players

Now that we’ve seen some of the most notable teams in Portugal, let’s take a look at the players that make them. This can help us out with Primeira Liga betting by cluing us in into the strengths and weaknesses of each team.

Alex Telles

Telles is likely one of the more recognizable names in the world when it comes to defensively-positioned players. Though he plays as a full-back, specifically a left-back, he is prized for his offensively-oriented approach.

He is very skilled on the ball, incredibly quick, and noted for being a playmaker despite his position in the pitch. He currently plays for Porto and occasionally the Brazillian national team.

Rúben Dias

Benfica’s answer to Porto’s Telles is the young native Dias. The two are similar in many aspects – both are backs, and both are some of the most valued players in Portuguese football. Although Dias cannot match the playmaking ability of Telles, he’s still a solid, defensive superstar in the making. Compared to the likes of de Ligt and Süle, Dias boasts a 65.87% success rate in defensive duels.

Carlos Vinícius

Primeira Liga is interesting because its most valued players are generally backs or midfielders. That being said, we’ve chosen to include a more typical example of a striker. With 18 goals and 8 assists over 32 appearances in the previous season, Vinicius was last year’s top goalscorer along with Benfica teammate Pizzi.

Primeira Liga Rising Stars

Now let’s take a look at some promising players with bright futures ahead of them.

Florentino

Aged only 21, Florentino Luis is an important part of Benfica’s indomitable midfield. He was a part of the main team’s reserve at only 17, now regularly called up as part of the starting 11. He is undoubtedly a defensive player, but his most noted quality is his ability to link complete long passes and link defence and offence seamlessly.

Fabio Silva

At the tender age of 18, Silva has already managed to draw comparisons to the likes of Christiano Ronaldo. Porto’s centre-forward is undoubtedly a prodigy with an uncanny instinct for scoring goals. His quickness cannot be matched by much older and more experienced players.

Primeira Liga Derby Matches

The fact that this competition is distinguished by the dominance of just 3 clubs has born some of the most heated derbies in European football.

O Clássico

We’ll start by getting the biggest showdown of Portuguese football out of the way – Porto vs. Benfica. Like a lot of rivalries of its kind, the O Clássico represents a wider rivalry between Portugal’s two biggest cities – Porto and Lisbon. Benfica are currently leading in terms of total wins with 83 to Porto’s 78, but recent trends have shown that Porto are on an upward swing.

Derby de Lisboa

The Lisbon derby is often regarded as the most important derby in the country because of its high viewership across the world. It’s certainly the biggest local derby – it’s between Sporting CP and Benfica, both of which are based in Lisbon. It dates back more than a century, all the way to 1907.

FC Porto–Sporting CP

Though this matchup is not nearly as notorious as the former two, it’s still an important showdown between two of the Big 3 clubs. Supposedly, this derby served as a forerunner to the Portuguese Cup.

Primeira Liga Best Stadiums

Estádio da Luz

Officially dubbed the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, Benfica’s home turf’s unofficial name is after the neighbourhood it was built on. It roughly translates to the Stadium of Light. The name is due to the proximity of the Church of Our Lady of Light, but it’s oddly fitting because of the focus on transparency and natural light in its construction. It can house almost 65,000 spectators.

Estádio do Dragão

Translating to the Dragon Stadium, this is Porto’s 50,000-seat home ground. It’s named after the symbol of both the city of Porto and the club itself – a dragon. It’s also characterised by a frame of 21,000 square meters of azulejos – a form of ceramic painting art found from the Iberian peninsula.

Estádio José Alvalade

Sporting’s home turf in Lisbon is the second-largest stadium in Portugal – though the difference in capacity to Porto’s is almost negligible. It was named after the founder of Sporting CP and is also noted for being acoustically designed to hold concerts.