Betting on Portuguese Primeira Liga – Football Betting Tips & odds

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On this page you find all information about the Portuguese Primeira Liga. Which teams dominate the championship, which big duels are there and what should you watch out for your Primeira Liga sporting bets. In addition to historical statistics, you will also find the current fixture list, results and betting forecasts here.

We look at the best Portugal bets, provide over under predictions for Primeira Liga, show you the best teams in the country and highlight the most heated duels.


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The Portuguese Primeira Liga is one of the most interesting leagues in Europe, especially because of its major clubs that are known throughout Europe.

The league was played for the first time in 1934 and consists of 18 teams, whereby in Portugal – unlike in most other leagues of 18 teams – only two teams are relegated and the 16th is already safe.

Liga Portugal
Regular Season P W D L Goals D Points Last
1 Benfica 34 28 3 3 82:20 62 87
2 Porto 34 27 4 3 73:22 51 85
3 Sporting Braga 34 25 3 6 75:30 45 78
4 Sporting CP 34 23 5 6 71:32 39 74
5 Arouca 34 15 9 10 36:37 -1 54
6 Vitória SC 34 16 5 13 34:39 -5 53
7 Chaves 34 12 10 12 35:40 -5 46
8 Famalicão 34 13 5 16 39:47 -8 44
9 Boavista 34 12 8 14 43:54 -11 44
10 Casa Pia AC 34 11 8 15 31:40 -9 41
11 Vizela 34 11 7 16 34:38 -4 40
12 Rio Ave 34 10 10 14 36:43 -7 40
13 Gil Vicente 34 10 7 17 32:41 -9 37
14 Estoril 34 10 5 19 33:49 -16 35
15 Portimonense 34 10 4 20 25:48 -23 34
16 Marítimo 34 7 5 22 32:63 -31 26
17 Paços de Ferreira 34 6 5 23 26:62 -36 23
18 Santa Clara 34 5 7 22 26:58 -32 22

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The two dominant teams in the league have always been record champions Benfica and FC Porto. In addition to a few small clubs that can slip into the top of the league from time to time, Sporting Lisbon and Sporting Braga also permanently play important roles in Portugal’s top division.

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Of the eight founding members of the Portuguese league, seven still exist and five of them currently play in the top division of the country. In the history of the Portuguese league there were only five champions and only three teams that could win this title more than once.


Benfica – Betting on Portugal’s record champions

Liga Portugal1. PlacePerformance 75%
Sporting CP Sporting CPBenfica Benfica
2:1
Benfica BenficaChaves Chaves
1:0
Casa Pia AC Casa Pia ACBenfica Benfica
0:1
Benfica BenficaEstoril Estoril
3:1
Porto PortoBenfica Benfica
5:0
Benfica BenficaPortimonense Portimonense
4:0
Benfica BenficaSporting Braga Sporting Braga

Betting Tipps Benfica

  • Der Verein steht derzeit auf Platz 1 in der Tabelle.
  • In den letzten 11 von 12 Heimspiele des Benfica ist mehr als ein Tor gefallen.
  • Benfica hat die letzten 18 von 20 Spiele nicht verloren.
  • In den letzten 8 von 9 Heimspiele hat Benfica mehr als ein Tore geschossen.
  • In den letzten 16 von 18 Auswärtsspiele hat Benfica zumindest ein Tore geschossen.
  • Benfica hat die letzten 7 von 8 Auswärtsspiele nicht unentschieden gespielt.

Benfica, also known as Benfica Lisbon in some foreign countries, has won 37 championships. This makes the Aguias (“The Eagles”), one of the teams that won the most domestic titles worldwide. According to a study, Benfica is the most popular sports club in the world: 47% of all Portuguese support Benfica and the club has around 230,000 paying club members, which means second place behind Bayern Munich. Under the Hungarian coach Béla Guttmann, Benfica won the European Cup in 1961 and 1962. When he then asked for a better wage that he did not get, Guttmann said: “You should not win a European Cup for the next 100 years” and left Benfica. Today, this saying is known as the “Guttmann’s curse”, because although Benfica has played eight final games in various European Cups, they never left the pitch as winners since Guttmann’s outburst.

The greatest club legends from Benfica were attacking players. Probably the best player to play for the club was top scorer Eusebio, who scored an incredible 474 goals for Benfica. In addition to Portuguese stars such as Nuno Gomes, Joao Pinto, Rui Águas, Paulo Futre, Rui Costa or Paulo Sousa, well-known non-Portuguese players such as Ángel di Maria, David Luiz, Axel Witsel, Karel Poborsky, Jan Oblak, Óscar Cardozo or Pierre van Hooijdonk also played for the club. Since the 2008-09 season, Benfica has always been either champion or runner-up and in the post-war period there were only 17 seasons in which Benfica finished third or worse. Benfica is especially known to be playing in an explosive, very offensive way in the Estádio da and is always worth a “over” tip, sometimes even in “team goals”.

FC Porto – Betting on the Dragons

Liga Portugal2. PlacePerformance 62%
Casa Pia AC Casa Pia ACPorto Porto
1:2
Porto PortoFamalicão Famalicão
2:2
Porto PortoVitória SC Vitória SC
1:2
Estoril EstorilPorto Porto
1:0
Porto PortoVizela Vizela
4:1
Portimonense PortimonensePorto Porto
0:3
Porto PortoBenfica Benfica
5:0
Gil Vicente Gil VicentePorto Porto
1:1
Porto PortoSporting CP Sporting CP

Betting Tipps Porto

  • In den letzten 10 von 11 Auswärtsspiele des Porto ist mehr als ein Tor gefallen.
  • Porto hat die letzten 18 von 20 Heimspiele nicht verloren.
  • In den letzten 9 von 10 Spiele hat Porto zumindest ein Tore geschossen.
  • In den letzten 9 von 10 Spiele des Porto ist mehr als ein Tor gefallen.
  • Porto hat die letzten 17 von 19 Auswärtsspiele nicht unentschieden gespielt.

With 30 championships won, FC Porto are the second most successful club in Portugal after great rival Benfica. On international level, Porto is even more successful than Benfica with two Champions League titles and two victories in the Europa League. In particular, winning Europe’s premier class under José Mourinho in 2004 – a year after winning the UEFA Cup – continues to resonate in Porto to this day. Comparing the last 40 years, Porto has also been more successful than Benfica at domestic level. The club from the northern Portuguese port city is known above all for its perfect scouting and relocating system, especially for players from South America.

With Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa, Porto has had the same president since 1982, which is unique in the international football business. Portuguese star players such as Vítor Baia, Bruno Alves, Ricardo Carvalho, Fernando Couto, Rui Barros, Costinha, Deco, Raúl Meireles, Sergio Conceicao or Hélder Postiga made their first steps or even stayed for a longer time with the Dragoes. The best-known foreign players in the club’s history were, for example, Peruvian Footballer of the Century Teófilo Cubillas, Emil Kostadinov, Radamel Falcao, James Rodríguez, Dmitri Alenichev and Branco. Similar to Benfica, Porto is known for dominant and attacking football, but not to the same extent. Porto is, in relation to Benfica, the more controlled team, which historically and currently conceded fewer goals than Benfica. Especially in the local Estadio do Dragao, the Blue and Whites are not only a power at domestic level.

Sporting CP – Betting on the Lions

Liga Portugal4. PlacePerformance 100%
Sporting CP Sporting CPVitória SC Vitória SC
3:0
Famalicão FamalicãoSporting CP Sporting CP
0:1
Gil Vicente Gil VicenteSporting CP Sporting CP
0:4
Sporting CP Sporting CPBenfica Benfica
2:1
Sporting CP Sporting CPBoavista Boavista
6:1
Arouca AroucaSporting CP Sporting CP
0:3
Porto PortoSporting CP Sporting CP

Betting Tipps Sporting CP

  • In den letzten 19 von 20 Spiele des Sporting CP ist mehr als ein Tor gefallen.
  • In den letzten 18 von 19 Spiele hat Sporting CP mehr als ein Tore geschossen.
  • In den letzten 18 von 19 Auswärtsspiele des Sporting CP ist mehr als ein Tor gefallen.
  • Sporting CP hat die letzten 12 von 13 Auswärtsspiele nicht unentschieden gespielt.
  • In den letzten 9 von 10 Auswärtsspiele hat Sporting CP mehr als ein Tore geschossen.

With over 170,000 members, the Sporting Clube de Portugal, also known as Sporting Lisbon, is one of the largest football clubs in the world. Before FC Porto saw its big upswing, Sporting Lisbon, alongside Benfica, was the particular force in Portuguese football. The Greens won 14 of their 19 championship titles before 1975. Unlike the top two clubs in the league, Sporting could not yet celebrate a title in Champions League or Europa League – only in 1964 they managed to win the European Cup Winners’ Cup. Sporting was the youth club of later world star Cristiano Ronaldo and also brought up big players like Luis Figo, Nani, Ricardo Quaresma and Sá Pinto. The most famous foreigners in the club’s history were the Brazilian Mário Jardel, Krasimir Balakov and Peter Schmeichel. Sporting is widely known for its perfect youth work and is the only club in the world that developed two World Footballers of the Year out of their own youth system, namely Luís Figo and Cristiano Ronaldo. Sporting is primarily known for fine, technically strong footballers and not too much for dynamic runners and fighters.

Sporting Braga – Betting on the Braguistas

Liga Portugal3. PlacePerformance 81%
Sporting Braga Sporting BragaVizela Vizela
2:1
Estoril EstorilSporting Braga Sporting Braga
0:1
Sporting Braga Sporting BragaArouca Arouca
0:3
Portimonense PortimonenseSporting Braga Sporting Braga
3:5
Sporting Braga Sporting BragaGil Vicente Gil Vicente
2:1
Rio Ave Rio AveSporting Braga Sporting Braga
0:0
Boavista BoavistaSporting Braga Sporting Braga
0:4
Benfica BenficaSporting Braga Sporting Braga

Betting Tipps Sporting Braga

  • In den letzten 19 von 20 Auswärtsspiele des Sporting Braga ist zumindest ein Tor gefallen.
  • Sporting Braga hat die letzten 9 von 10 Auswärtsspiele nicht unentschieden gespielt.
  • In den letzten 18 von 20 Heimspiele hat Sporting Braga zumindest ein Tore geschossen.
  • Sporting Braga hat die letzten 8 von 9 Spiele nicht verloren.
  • Sporting Braga hat die letzten 7 von 8 Heimspiele nicht verloren.

Between 2009 and 2011 Sporting Braga was the fourth force to advance to the Portuguese title race. During these years, the team from the Minho region not only became runner-up, but made it to the UEFA Europa League final. Since then, Braga has been a team that stays constantly in the upper table regions. The team plays in the Estádio Municipal de Braga, which is considered an architectural masterpiece, especially since it was built into a granite rock. For the past decade, Braga has been best known as a snappy team that is still going for the win and, statistically speaking, rarely plays a draw. In addition, the team in the Europa League, where they have been regular starters for several years, always ensures spectacular soccer evenings with many goals. Above all, there are “over” bets, ideally as live bets, especially since Braga is often more active in the second half than in the first.


Big games in the Portuguese League

Portugal’s Primeira Liga, like the Spanish Primera División, lives from one great classic game and several interesting local derbies and top duels. We summarize the most exciting and important games of the league.

Benfica – Porto: Betting on O Clássico

Benfica Porto
Sporting CP Sporting CPBenfica Benfica
2:1
Benfica BenficaChaves Chaves
1:0
Casa Pia AC Casa Pia ACBenfica Benfica
0:1
Benfica BenficaEstoril Estoril
3:1
Porto PortoBenfica Benfica
5:0
Benfica BenficaPortimonense Portimonense
4:0
Casa Pia AC Casa Pia ACPorto Porto
1:2
Porto PortoFamalicão Famalicão
2:2
Porto PortoVitória SC Vitória SC
1:2
Estoril EstorilPorto Porto
1:0
Porto PortoVizela Vizela
4:1
Portimonense PortimonensePorto Porto
0:3
Porto PortoBenfica Benfica
5:0
Gil Vicente Gil VicentePorto Porto
1:1
Pos Team Perf Points
1. Benfica 75% 82:20 87
2. Porto 62% 73:22 85
Recent Games
  • 03.03.24 Porto Benfica
  • 29.09.23 Benfica Porto
  • 07.04.23 Benfica Porto
  • 21.10.22 Porto Benfica
  • 07.05.22 Benfica Porto
  • 30.12.21 Porto Benfica
  • 06.05.21 Benfica Porto
  • 15.01.21 Porto Benfica

Betting Tipps Benfica - Porto

  • Bei diesem Duell spielt der Tabellenerste gegen den Zweitplatzierten.
  • Porto trifft auf den Torgarant der Liga, Benfica.
  • Im letzten Spiel sind mehr als 4 Tore gefallen.
  • In den letzten 6 Spiele gab es stets einen Sieger.
  • In den letzten 5 von 9 Spiele haben beide Teams getroffen.

The counterpart to the Spanish Clásico between Real Madrid and Barcelona is the mostly championship-decisive duel between Benfica and FC Porto in Portugal. This is a long rivalry and a game that has been played over 150 times, with FC Porto statistically ahead. Also it is statistically striking that the home team has exceptional advantages here. Porto, for example, wins every second home derby on average, while there is little to earn away at Benfica’s Estadio da Luz. You can see away wins in this top duel in only 18% of cases. Historically, the number of goals per game is 2.50 which is a fair average for a duel of this size.

Just like the Spanish Clásico, there are massive political, cultural and social differences between the two teams that spice up this great duel. A difference to the Spanish Clásico, however, is that there are relatively many players who have played for both clubs in the past. The possibly eternal Clássico record player is Benfica legend Nene, who participated in 30 duels between 1970 and 1985. Most goals (17) were scored by José Águas, a Benfica legend.

Benfica – Sporting: Betting on the Derby de Lisboa

Benfica Sporting CP
Sporting CP Sporting CPBenfica Benfica
2:1
Benfica BenficaChaves Chaves
1:0
Casa Pia AC Casa Pia ACBenfica Benfica
0:1
Benfica BenficaEstoril Estoril
3:1
Porto PortoBenfica Benfica
5:0
Benfica BenficaPortimonense Portimonense
4:0
Sporting CP Sporting CPVitória SC Vitória SC
3:0
Famalicão FamalicãoSporting CP Sporting CP
0:1
Gil Vicente Gil VicenteSporting CP Sporting CP
0:4
Sporting CP Sporting CPBenfica Benfica
2:1
Sporting CP Sporting CPBoavista Boavista
6:1
Arouca AroucaSporting CP Sporting CP
0:3
Pos Team Perf Points
1. Benfica 75% 82:20 87
4. Sporting CP 100% 71:32 74
Recent Games
  • 06.04.24 Sporting CP Benfica
  • 12.11.23 Benfica Sporting CP
  • 21.05.23 Sporting CP Benfica
  • 15.01.23 Benfica Sporting CP
  • 17.04.22 Sporting CP Benfica
  • 03.12.21 Benfica Sporting CP
  • 15.05.21 Benfica Sporting CP
  • 01.02.21 Sporting CP Benfica

Betting Tipps Benfica - Sporting CP

  • Sporting CP trifft auf den derzeitigen Ersten der Tabelle, Benfica.
  • Sporting CP trifft auf den Torgarant der Liga, Benfica.
  • In den letzten 4 Spiele sind mehr als 2 Tore gefallen.
  • In den letzten 4 Spiele haben beide Teams getroffen.
  • Die letzten beiden Spiele sind nicht Unentschieden ausgegangen

The Derby de Lisboa between Benfica and Sporting is, like in many other cities, kind of a class struggle. While Benfica is the club of the masses, Sporting is the club of the upper class. The Lisbon derby has been played over 210 times and statistically, Benfica is clearly ahead in a direct comparison, even though Sporting was able to celebrate some derby winning streaks, especially in the 40s and 50s. For example, Sporting only won three matches between 2007 and 2019. Benfica won around half of all derbies ever played. In addition, the eternal goal average in this game is around 3.10 per game, which makes it an “high scoring game”.

Porto – Sporting: Betting on “Dragons against Lions”

Porto Sporting CP
Casa Pia AC Casa Pia ACPorto Porto
1:2
Porto PortoFamalicão Famalicão
2:2
Porto PortoVitória SC Vitória SC
1:2
Estoril EstorilPorto Porto
1:0
Porto PortoVizela Vizela
4:1
Portimonense PortimonensePorto Porto
0:3
Porto PortoBenfica Benfica
5:0
Gil Vicente Gil VicentePorto Porto
1:1
Sporting CP Sporting CPVitória SC Vitória SC
3:0
Famalicão FamalicãoSporting CP Sporting CP
0:1
Gil Vicente Gil VicenteSporting CP Sporting CP
0:4
Sporting CP Sporting CPBenfica Benfica
2:1
Sporting CP Sporting CPBoavista Boavista
6:1
Arouca AroucaSporting CP Sporting CP
0:3
Pos Team Perf Points
2. Porto 62% 73:22 85
4. Sporting CP 100% 71:32 74
Recent Games
  • 18.12.23 Sporting CP Porto
  • 12.02.23 Sporting CP Porto
  • 20.08.22 Porto Sporting CP
  • 11.02.22 Porto Sporting CP
  • 11.09.21 Sporting CP Porto
  • 27.02.21 Porto Sporting CP
  • 17.10.20 Sporting CP Porto
  • 15.07.20 Porto Sporting CP

Betting Tipps Porto - Sporting CP

  • In den letzten 3 Spiele gab es stets einen Sieger.
  • In den letzten 5 Spiele ist mehr als ein Tor gefallen.
  • Die letzten 4 von 7 Spiele endeten Unentschieden.

The game between the Dragons from Porto and the Lions from Lisbon was played even more often than the Derby de Lisboa. Porto and Sporting can look back on an extremely long rivalry and, interestingly, the overall balance of this duel is practically exactly balanced. The two teams are separated by only a few points in the eternal duel record and with a goal average of 2.75 goals per game, the clash is just ahead of O Clássico and behind the Derby de Lisboa. In recent years and decades, the strengthened FC Porto has clearly had a better record than Sporting. The fierce duel between the two eternal Benfica pursuers is also always good for a small scandal or heated atmosphere on the pitch – and therefore a lot of cards.


Portugal as the chasing nation in the UEFA ranking

Together with countries such as Russia, Holland or Belgium, Portugal has traditionally been one of the hunters of the traditional top five nations in the UEFA coefficient ranking. However, the Portuguese can occasionally slip into the top five ranks, especially when Porto or Benfica have strong European Cup seasons and France is weakening at the same time. This has not been the case in recent years, but Portugal’s Primeira Liga can always be sure that the champions will have a fixed spot in the UEFA Champions League the following season.

Stadiums of Primeira Liga

In terms of stadiums and crowds, the top three are of course the defining teams in Portugal. Benfica’s Estadio da Luz is the largest stadium in the league with a capacity of around 65,000 seats – followed by Portos Estadio do Dragao and Sportings Estadio José Alvalade with 50,000 seats each. Half of the clubs in the Primeira Liga have small stadiums with less than 10,000 seats, which is why the overall attendance average of the league is only slightly above (and in some seasons even just under) 10,000 fans per game, although the top teams’ games are sold out mostly.

The most successful clubs

The Portuguese league is a special feature because practically only three clubs are eligible to win the championship. In total, only five teams won at least one title. In addition, all Portuguese champions came from either Lisbon or Porto. If a “new” team would manage to be Portuguese champions, that would be one of the top surprises in football world.

37           Benfica Lisbon
29           FC Porto
18           Sporting Lisbon
1             Boavista Porto
               Belenenses Lisbon

Current balance of power

The balance of power in Portugal’s top flight changes very little from season to season. Porto and Benfica fight for the title every year, while it is never 100% certain how strong Sporting Lisbon and Sporting Braga will be. Even a second place would currently be a sensation for these two teams and that another team interferes in the title fight is extremely rare.

The Primeira Liga record players

The player with the most games in the Portuguese Primeira Liga is Manuel José Tavares, who mainly played for Sporting Lisbon from 1969 to 1988 and made 485 appearances. António Augusto Gomes de Sousa, who started playing at Sporting in 1975, played mainly at Porto until 1994. The third in the group is Joao Pinto, a well-known name, who has made 476 appearances in 19 seasons – mainly for Boavista, Benfica and Sporting. Active players are currently not in the top 10.

The best goalscorers in the Primeira Liga

In the category of the best goal scorers in the history of the Portuguese league, everyone would expect Benfica star Eusébio at the top. However, with 320 goals scored, he is only in second place. The first is a Sporting Lisbon player: Peyroteo scored 332 goals for the Leoes between 1937 and 1949 and is practically unrivaled in first place. Third is Fernando Gomes, who scored most of his 319 goals for Porto, followed by José Águas, who scored all of his 291 goals for Benfica. There is currently no active player in the top 25.

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