Sporting Braga vs Tondela Prediction and Betting Tips

Sporting Braga will host Tondela at the Estadio Municipal de Braga on Sunday in the opening round of the 2025-26 Primeira Liga campaign. The home side performed well in the Portuguese top flight last season, although a slow finish to the campaign saw them miss out on direct qualification for the UEFA Europa League league phase as they finished fourth in the table.

They returned to competitive action last month, beating Bulgarian side Levski Sofia 1-0 on aggregate in the second round of the Europa League qualifiers. They then picked up a 2-1 away win over CFR Cluj in the first leg of the third round on Thursday and will be looking to replicate their continental exploits on the domestic stage this weekend.

Tondela, meanwhile, are set to make their return to the top flight this weekend for the first time since the 2021-22 season. Like their midweek opponents, they also struggled at the back end of the previous campaign but held on to the top spot in the Liga Portugal 2.

The newly-promoted side performed well in the off-season and will hope they have done enough to hit the ground running on Sunday as they begin their quest for survival.

Sporting Braga vs Tondela Head-to-Head and Key Numbers

There have been 16 meetings between the two teams. Braga have won 13 of those games while Tondela have won twice, with their final matchup ending in a draw.
The two clubs last faced off in a league clash back in February 2022, which the hosts won 1-0.
The visitors have not had a clean sheet in their last four games in this fixture.
Braga conceded 30 goals in the Primeira Liga last season. Only Benfica (28) and champions Sporting (27) shipped fewer.

Sporting Braga vs Tondela Prediction

The Archbishops won all five of their pre-season outings and have now begun the new season with two wins from three. They are clear favorites heading into the weekend clash and will be targeting a dominant win to lay down a marker at the start of the season.

Tondela beat top-flight side Nacional 2-1 in their final pre-season outing and will take confidence from that into their league opener. They have, however, struggled for results in this fixture historically and could lose this one.

Prediction: Sporting Braga 3-1 Tondela

Sporting Braga vs Tondela Betting Tips

Tip 1 - Result: Braga to win

Tip 2 - Goals - Over/under 2.5 - Over 2.5 goals (Six of the last eight matches between the two teams have produced more than 2.5 goals)

Tip 3 - Both teams to score: YES (Both sides have found the back of the net in five of the visitors' last seven matches)

About the author

Jedidiah is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda, who has been covering match previews for more than 3 years. Currently pursuing an engineering degree from the University of Ibadan, he conducts thorough research and ensures to be up-to-date with football news across the globe to create the most accurate previews.

A Manchester United fan, Jedidiah fell in love with football and the Red Devils since their UEFA Champions League triumph over Chelsea in 2008. He is a big fan of Robert Lewandowski and his historic performances from 2020, but feels that only Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe are capable of replicating the Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo rivalry. His all-time favorite manager is Carlo Ancelotti due to the Italian's remarkable composure in difficult moments of a contest. Spain's 1-0 win over Netherlands in the final of the 2010 FIFA World Cup is etched in his memory forever.

A true student of the game, Jedidiah relishes identifying hidden gems from lower-tiered leagues such as the EFL Championship and the Eredivisie. When not creating previews, he likes playing football and reading books.

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