Joe Murphy takes a look at some of the most underrated signings in the Liga BPI this season in Beatriz Meio-Metro and Marie-Yasmine Alidou.

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Over the past few months, on my Twitter account, I have been looking at one player per club in the Liga BPI. I have looked into their position in the team and what they bring to it. It was requested that I should do a thread on Braga’s Beatriz Meio-Metro. After watching clips, I decided a thread wouldn’t be enough, and I should turn it into an article. I also thought it was a good idea to include Marie-Yasmine Alidou from Famalicão, as both players have a lot in common. They were signed in the summer, play roughly in the same position and both are important to their teams. They were also two cheap players on RealFEVR and are reliable players to help your team as they are regularly involved with goals.

I hope you enjoy my breakdown of these two players. Before I start, I apologise for not having detailed screenshots/videos of the clips. The YouTube quality of these clips are bad enough, but once I started adding notes, they were made even worse. I have made a couple of team tactics and included part of a video to show an example of what I am talking about. It should be straightforward for you to access. I will note that Meio-Metro wears the number 19, and Aldiou wears the number 22.

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Beatriz Meio-Metro

Meio-Metro (BMM) returned to Portugal after spending a season in Cyprus. In her career, she had already played with manager Gonçalo Nunes before when she played at Estoril Praia. In all competitions, BMM has eight goals and eight assists in 25 appearances. Her position often changes from being the right forward of a front 2 to being the winger of a front 3. I will go through her position when Braga have the ball, and Braga do not have the ball.

Out of possession, BMM is normally an inside right forward. Braga tends to defend in a 4-1-3-2 formation. BMM is on the right of the front two but stands slightly deeper than her strike partner. By doing this, she offers some defensive cover, but she is mainly getting ready to break forward when the ball has been won back. She often tucks into this defensive position to force the opposition to go wide. Then soon as the ball goes out wide, BMM springs a press to try and win the ball. Not only that, but being in the role allows her to put a press on the opposition number six. In this clip, you can see her putting the press on the full-back and forcing the opposition full-back to make a forward pass as BMM was pressing from the angle to cut the pass off to the number 6. Braga win the ball back, and BMM was unlucky not to find Kehrer to take advantage of this opportunity.

When Braga are in possession of the ball, BMM is normally on the right wing. Often Braga change from a 4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1 but this doesn’t really affect her position. The main thing I noticed it that she often made an inverted run which would drag the opposition left back with her. This creates space for Braga’s right back (normally Beatriz Rodrigues or Tânia Rodrigues) to push on into the attack. In this clip down below Braga are in the 4-3-3 shape. BMM moves more centrally by doing this, the Torreense left back (Ellie Walker) follows her. This creates space on the right side for Beatriz Rodrigues, and she has the time to cross the ball, which leads to Braga’s first goal. BMM does not touch the ball in this clip, but her movement creates the goal. It is also important to note that she even found space in the box for the pullback.

As mentioned at the start, BMM has eight goals this season, and I want to highlight some of these. For me, her most memorable goal is the winner vs Länk Vilaverdense. She makes a well-timed run and smartly chips the ball over the keeper. This has to be one of the best well-taken chipped goals I have seen. With the goalkeeper rushing out to close her down, she did not have time to take a touch to compose herself. BMM perfectly lifts the ball over the goalkeeper, and it does not allow an attempt from the defender to hook it off the line. To do it at the last minute of the game when the score is level takes some confidence.

Finally, I just wanted to discuss the chances she creates for the Braga this season. She has made 35 key passes in the league this season and that is the most out of any other Braga player. She is the centre of all their attacks. In this clip down below, if you let it roll, there are two chances she creates by herself. In the first one, she picks up the ball and quickly plays in Joline Amani. The weight on that through ball to split open the opposition’s defence is perfect and she moves from the right side to a more central position to create this chance. In the second clip, she runs from a deep position with the ball dribbling to start an attack. Her pass beats three defenders and it allows Vanessa Marques to shoot from a great position. BMM is there for the follow-up but the goalkeeper manages to reclaim the ball. In these two clips, you can she trying to create a goal for Braga. Braga do get their goal in this game and BMM is at the centre of it. She holds onto the ball whilst two defenders try to push her off it. She finds the pass to Marques to level the score despite being swarmed in a sea of red. This assist looks simple but finding the pass under that amount of pass isn’t easy to do.

By making these inside runs I feel BMM should be called up to the Portugal main squad. She could be a great asset to have in the team as she would suit the team perfectly. If she is given the opportunity, I am sure she will perform based on how she has played this season.

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Marie-Yasmine Alidou

Alidou has had a very successful first season in Portugal. She has been one of Famalicão’s best players this season, scoring nine goals and providing four assists in 26 appearances this season. This form has seen her getting called back up to the Canada squad right before the World Cup. In the first couple of games, Alidou was playing a deeper role, but following a change of managers, she has played further up the field. She is now playing in a more advanced role as part of the front three. Alidou doesn’t have a set role and will swap positions in this front three.

Since the signing of Sissi in January, Alidou has formed a great link up with her. They both constantly change positions to try something different in the game. Sometimes Alidou is on the right side with Sissi down the middle, and sometimes it’s vice versa. On the pitch, you can see them always linking up in attacks, and it feels like most of Famalicão’s goals come from them. In this attack down below, you can see this linkup. Alidou plays Sisi through down the right side, and she pulls it back to Alidou to take a shot. I have noticed that they like to create chances like this. Overload on the right side and then either cross it or pull it back.

Here is a goal that they were both involved in. As you can see, the chance comes from the overload on the right side, and this time the right back (Letícia Almeida) is helping them too. Alidou plays a smart first-time pass, and this catches the defenders out.

Furthermore, another thing that I like about Alidou is her positional awareness. She knows when the right time to make a run in behind the defence or to drop deep to receive the ball to start an attack. As you can see in this clip below, Alidou is on the last defender, and she times her run to perfection. As if the run was a second later the goalkeeper would have claimed the ball or a second early the offside flag would have gone down. Then it is one touch to take the goalkeeper and then an easy tap-in. Alidou does this effortlessly as it looks like she is going to shoot the first time rather than dribbling around the goalkeeper.

Finally, I just need to point out Alidou’s crossing ability. Three out of her four assists have come from crosses. Alidou has also made 19 key passes and at least 50% of them have come from crosses. When she is on the right wing, she tends to be more of a traditional winger rather than one who cuts in. On the odd time she has played on the left side, she would rather cross on her weak foot than cross it in. This clip is an example of this, and it shows her versatility. As she is two-footed and can play anywhere across the front three. From that one glance, she can see Maria Miller unmarked. Despite having two players closing her down on her weak foot, Alidou finds Miller perfectly.

I am not going to lie and say that Alidou should go to the World Cup over x Canadian player, as I don’t watch all the leagues the Canadian team play in. I know that she only got called up this time due to an injury to Quinn, but it shows that the league is getting watched over. Meaning that any other Canadians could be in the next squad. It is also great for a World Cup contender to be calling an outfield player from a Liga BPI team. Yes, I know about Lacasse and Benfica, but this is different, given that Famalicão aren’t in the Champions League. It is a great look for the league as in the future, players know that signing for a club in Portugal could be a way to get into your national team, which makes the Liga BPI a more competitive league.

Thank you for reading my tactical breakdown of Meio-Metro and Alidou. I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any more suggestions for any other player that I should look at please tell me.

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You can find additional Liga BPI Fantasy resources for the 22/23 season here.

The Liga BPI or the Campeonato Nacional Feminino is at the halfway mark, but which are the most underrated players that deserve more recognition? Liga BPI enthusiast Joe Murphy shares his thoughts.

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We are now at the halfway mark for the 2022/23 Liga BPI season, and it has been fun to watch so far. For this article, I wanted to create a team of players that have had a great season but have gone under the radar. So they are like my hipster picks. To do this, I am going to exclude players from the top 4 teams (Benfica, Braga, Famalicão and Sporting). I will also exclude players such as Telma or Beatriz Cameirão, as we knew about their talent before the season started. All the stats I use are from ZeroZero and RealFEVR.

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Defence

 

Goalkeeper – Ana Rita Oliveira

Ouriense are having a great season, and they are currently unbeaten in the league if you remove their games against the top 4 teams. In these games, they have only conceded four goals, and at the heart of this amazing defensive record is Ana Rita Oliveira. The 24-year-old has proven herself to be one of the best goalkeepers in the league by making match-winning saves. This has led to her winning numerous player of the matches awards. She has also made the most saves in the league, with 65 saves in eleven matches.

 

Right Back – Inês Queiroga

Probably one of the hardest positions to find, but the Valadares Gaia right-wing back got my vote. It seems that every time I watch one of their games, the majority of their attacks come down their right side. Queiroga overlapping have been a big factor in these attacks, as it seems that Valadares do struggle in the final third with the ball. Although she hasn’t registered a single assist this season, you can’t take away how good her crosses into the box have been. If it were down to better finishing, she would be competing for the most assists out of any player in the league.

 

Centre Back – Opal Curless/ Zoe Hudson

I spent ages deciding which Valadares Gaia centre back to go with, so I decided to go with both of them. It was too harsh to include one over the other, as they both have been impressive this season. Although they haven’t kept a clean sheet this season so far, their overall defensive performances have been solid. They are both great at one on one defending by forcing their opponents to make a mistake, and then they step in to win the ball. Curless and Hudson are also both comfortable on the ball, which is a rarity for some of these smaller teams in the league. So yes, I may be cheating by picking two, but it is impossible to separate them.

 

Centre Back- Ana Assucena

For me, Assucena is one of the best centre-backs in the league and is one of the players that should be called up to the national team. Assucena likes to control the ball in defensive areas where most defenders just kick it out of play. She can carry the ball from these defensive areas and start counterattacks for Damaiense. This ability has also seen her play in midfield for a couple of games, with the most notable game being against Sporting. At the start of the season, I picked her out for being a goal threat as she had an impressive record in the second division, and this has carried on to this season. Assucena has three goals to her name and will likely add to this tally in the second half of the season.

 

Left Back – Madalena Marau

The Länk Vilaverdense full-back has stepped up massively this season and is always a joy to watch. Marau likes to join with the attacks by pushing up high on the left flank. Her whipped crosses are a huge attacking option for Vilaverdense, as they always seem to cause a problem for her opponents. From these crosses, she has two assists to her name and four goals which is great for a left-back. Marau defensive side of her game is just as good, and just like Assuecena, she should be in contention with a national team call-up.

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Midfield

 

Centre Midfielder – Cristiana Vieira

Vieira has to be one of the most versatile players in the league. She has played all over the midfield this season, but her best position is as a number 8. She is a very energetic player that likes to cover every blade of grass on the position. Vieira also finds some great positions in and around the penalty, making her a problem for opposition defenders. Despite being one of the league’s most booked players, this doesn’t take away from how good she is at intercepting the play. These aggressive interceptions are vital for Länk Vilaverdense.

 

Centre Midfielder – Ariadna Cerezuela

Torreense newbie Cerezuela started off the season playing in the midfield before being asked to play further forward to cover their attacking issues. Despite only being 22 years old and new to Portuguese football, she is the captain of this Torreense squad. Before her injury, she was the only one stepping up for Torreense and often bailing them out of difficult situations. Her injury did have an impact on the team’s results, but luckily she should be back for their next game.

 

Centre Midfielder – Jéssica Pastilha

The Ouriense captain plays in a number 8 role of a midfield three. Pastilha isn’t the type to get the ball from a deep position and carry the ball forward to help her take the pressure off her defence. Instead, she joins in with the press and will always try to win the ball quickly as possible. On the ball, Pastilha very rarely gives the ball away as she knows that her Ouriense team will have less possession in all games than their opponents. She makes quick and smart passes to help gain some momentum for her team. This is the reason why Pastilha makes this squad because, in every game, she is always at least an 8/10.

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Attack

Right Wing – Huỳnh Như

Another member of the Länk Vilaverdense squad who has gone under the radar. Although Như’s favoured position isn’t on the right of a front three, I still had to include her in this team. She is the only Vietnamese women’s player playing for a European team, and she has given her home country something to be proud about. She was eased into first-team action by making late appearances off the bench, but in her first start, she bagged a brace. Since this game, Như has played every game with full confidence. She is never afraid to have a shoot or take on a player. Như is one of the smallest players in the league, yet she challenges for every header. For these reasons is why Như is one of my favourite players in the league, as she likes to battle for every lost ball.

 

Left Wing – Summer Green

Summer Green is arguably the best signing of the Liga BPI summer transfer window. Although her position in this team is left-wing she has played all down the left side this season. Out of possession, she drops back into a left wing-back role to add another body for Damaiense’s defense. In possession, she moves into more of a left-wing/forward role and is a big attacking threat. Green has scored four goals and has eight assists to her name in the league, making her the Damaiense player with the most goal contributions.

 

Striker – Olivia Kearse-Thomas

At the start of the season, I was worried for Albergaria as I didn’t know which one of their players would consistently score their goals. Kearse-Thomas joined them from Damaiense over the summer and has proven to be a consistent goalscorer. She has four goals in nine matches which is a great goal-to-game ratio for any striker. Although she hasn’t got an assist so far, her underlying stats suggest she is close to getting one. Kearse-Thomas has made 11 key passes so far, and from the chances I have seen, she has been unlucky not to get an assist. I also want to give a shoutout to the two Albergaria wingers, Carolina Ferreira and Érica Gomes, as both of these could have easily made this list too.

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Thanks all for reading, and I hope you liked my choices. Let’s see if these players have a successful end to the Liga BPI season. If there were any you disagreed with or someone I forgot to include, please do tell me.

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You can find additional Liga BPI Fantasy resources for the 22/23 season here.

With less than a week left for the start of the Liga BPI season, the top-tier women’s football league in Portugal, tipster Joe previews each team for the upcoming season and the players to consider for the RealFevr Liga BPI Fantasy game.

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Around mid-January, I was looking through RealFevr fantasy games to see what leagues they had on there, and I noticed they had Liga BPI. I decided to play it for two reasons: I have never played a women’s fantasy before, and the other I had zero knowledge of this league. Coming from England, the only women’s football we see is the WSL (which has only been on regular viewing for the past year), England’s international and international tournaments.

I had never heard of Liga BPI before and couldn’t even name a player in the league. So I thought playing this game would help to further my knowledge of the women’s game. Over the season’s final half, I enjoyed watching the games on Canal 11 YouTube. I stopped watching the games from a Fantasy perspective and watched them as they were fun to watch. So from this, I decided to get more in touch with the league by following all the clubs’ social media accounts.

The league has changed from last season to this season, instead of having the league split in half. The top four teams from each league play in a winners bracket, with the same happening to the bottom four. This season the league is a traditional European-style league. 12 teams play each other twice. However, I found that only three teams are professional (Benfica, Sporting, and Braga), with three more heading in that way (Famalicão, Maritimo, and Torreense). The other six teams in the division are all amateurs.

At the same time as this was happening, I decided to book some tickets for the Euros as the Leigh Sports Village is near where I live. When I looked at the teams who were playing, I saw it was Portugal and thought it was a funny coincidence that the national team of a league I started following would be playing near me. I managed to book tickets for a few friends and me to go watch Portugal vs. Switzerland. Portugal played brilliantly (excluding the first ten minutes) and deserved to come away with three points. It was a similar performance against the 2017 Euro winners, the Netherlands, in which they only lost to a wonder strike.

From this, I could see the excitement on Twitter from the journalists and fans, who I had just recently followed, for these amazing performances. Then the last game against Sweden came and went, and Portugal was comfortably beaten. Despite this heavy loss, Portugal can hold their heads up high, and it is now down to the FPF to help fund the women’s game in Portugal. This is a league where more than 50% of the teams aren’t professional and a league where the professional players can’t get the right professional equipment.

With all this, I decided to do a mini preview of each team in the league to help to give people an overview of what the league looks like, but before, I just want to give a big shoutout to all the people who I found on Twitter who talk about women’s football in Portugal. They have watched this side of football a long time before me, and I don’t want to look like I am stepping on their toes with this article. Here is a list of the and their Twitter handles:

• Margarida Bartolomeu – @BartoMaggie
• Cristiana Pina – @CristianaPina
• João Nuno Sousa – @JoaoNunoSousa_
• Ines Braga Sampaio – @ines4sampaio
• Rita David – @ritadavid1011
• Cátia Silva – @catiasgs
• Francisco Isaac – @francisaac87
• Rodrigo Coimbra – @rocoimbra14

Please do give all these people a follow and check out all the great stuff they have done.

As stated before, I’ve only started watching the league in January, so if I get something wrong, please tell me. The stats I use will be from the ZeroZero website, and this website only credits some assists. I’ll be going through the teams in order of last years league position.

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Liga BPI Team Previews

 

Benfica

The title holders are favourites to defend their title and will want to add the domestic cups under manager Filipa Patão. Last season in the Winners’ Bracket, they only conceded four goals in 14 matches. Despite this impressive defensive record, an injury to star right back Catarina Amado has forced them to change formation from a back four to a back three. Surprisingly, new signing Daniela Silva will partner Carole Costa and Ana Seiça in this back 3. This comes as a surprise as she was signed from Famalicão, where she played as a quick winger.

Liga BPI Player of the Season Costa will be the main center-back with Silva and Seiça facing competition from the experienced Sílvia Rebelo and Lúcia Alves. Alves was the main left-back last season and will have to adjust to this new center-back role. Benfica had lots of depth in the midfield position last season and added to it by signing Andreia Norton. She was one of Braga’s best players last season and shined in the Euros for Portugal. Norton likes to pick up the ball from the defenders and uses her close-control dribbling style to run at the opposition.

This only makes Benfica stronger but will give Patão a headache when selecting her team. Defensive midfielder Pauleta will play every minute of every match. She easily breaks up opposition counterattacks and is a threat from attacking set pieces. Nigerian international Christy Ucheibe will look to nail down her spot in midfield. She’s a physical midfield but can easily join in with the expansive football Benfica play. Nailing down a spot in this Benfica midfield is no easy task as there is a range of options to choose from. I’d go with this midfield if I were Patão, but I am no expert like her.

Finally, we come to the front three and, by far, the most exciting players. Wonderkid Kika Nazareth has played 54 matches in the last two seasons scoring 27 goals and providing nine. These are great returns for such a young player who usually plays on the left for Benfica. She will want to put a disappointing Euros performance behind her, and I think she’ll be hungry to improve on her goal tally. To add to this front three you have Cloé Lacasse and Jéssica Silva. Both will be battling it out for the league’s top scorer.

Jéssica, like Norton, is coming back off a great Euros campaign for herself, which will only boost her confidence for the new season. Lacasse has scored 67 goals in the last three seasons. Do I have to say any more? Even their backups are great. Valéria, Cintra, Raylsa, and Pintassilgo will all have the same aim this season: to try and break into this team. They all proved last season how good they were when they were required to step up, but they will all be wanting this to become more of a regular occurrence. A few young players to look out for are Beatriz Nogueira (Bibocas), Inês Simas, and Ana Cruz, as these players could be the next big thing.

 

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Marítimo

Last season Marítimo were the definition of a midtable team as they won seven and lost seven of the 14 games. Despite these results, they only finished one point behind Famalicão and four behind Braga. The main issue they have is they heavily rely on wonderkid Telma Encarnação to score goals for them. Telma is the biggest youth talent in Portugal outside of the top three teams, and her incredible goal-scoring record earned her a call-up for the National Team to play in the Euros. It looks like she will be staying the season for them and that in itself makes this a great transfer window for Marítimo.

Unlike most teams you’ll see later on, Marítimo have only made a couple of signings, so keeping a player like Telma is a success for them. If it wasn’t Telma scoring the goals, it was winger Tânia Mateus. She likes to run with the ball, trying to cause panic for the opposition. Tânia’s goal-scoring record has improved each season, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she manages to reach double digits this season.

One signing they have made is a player with lots of potential, Joana Prazeres. Only 19 years old, she played a big role in Amora’s defence last season, where she was out on loan from Famalicão. The Famalicão fans should be disappointed that she didn’t stay with the club. She’s a center-back and can easily play out from the back. With the loss of Paula Fernanades Marítimo have replaced her with Priscila Campota joining from Torreense. She’s an experienced center-back, and Marítimo fans will be hoping this experience helps Prazeres to build her confidence.

I can’t talk about this club without mentioning Bárbara Santos, the goalkeeper who scored a goal against Braga last season. She took a free kick from her own half, and it flew into the back of the net. For me, Santos is the best keeper in the league that doesn’t play for a professional club. She made an outrageous number of saves last season and kept Marítimo in the game for countless amount of matches. The issue that Marítimo have is that they seem to panic when teams pressure them high up in their own half. This explains the midtable form as the teams nearer the bottom lacked the ability compared to the teams at the top. Marítimo will finish high mid-table this season, but the only way they can break into the top three is if another attacking player can score alongside Telma. Finding a secondary goal scorer will also help Telma, as the pressure will not all be on her.

 

Torreense

Albergaria started the Winners’ Bracket league poorly with only one point in 12 games; however, they won their final two games, which saw them overtake Vilaverdense for the second last place. One of the positives about Albergaria is that they do a lot for the women’s game in Portugal. They have a great youth system, allowing them to put on trial days for girls to come and play football. Benfica’s Jéssica Silva played for Albergaria, which led to her breakout season.

This season, Daniela Martins will be hoping it’s her breakout season. Last season she finished as the top scorer in the under 19s league, and she has the raw potential to carry on this form for the main team. Martins can play across the front three and will be stepping up to replace Inés Santos.

Slovenian international Nika Babnik likes to dictate the play and has a great amount of energy to do this, constantly asking for the ball and wanting as much of it as possible. For me, I really think she is an intelligent player, and she has the rare experience of playing in San Marino. Another key player that could be crucial for Albergaria is Samara Lino. She partners with Babnik in the middle of the field and works well with her. This duo could be the key for Albergaria, and if teams fail to pick up on it, they’ll be in trouble. A few other young players which are stepping up to the first team are: Ana Matos, Maria Teixeira, and Andreia Tavares. All three young players will be given first-team football this season, and all could go on to do big stuff in the future.

 

Länk Vilaverdense

Vilaverdense are coming back from an up-and-down season, as despite making it into the Winners’ Bracket, they only managed to get three points from 14 games. Current manager Daniel Pacheco will want this season to follow the same pattern as the first half of last season. To help with this, he has recruited three key players from Valadares Gaia this season – Malu Schmidt, Shelby High, and Madalena Marau.

From what I saw last season, Schmidt has the ability to be one of the best players in the league, and she’s only 21 years old. She scored 12 goals last season, but one thing we should consider is that she’ll be without her strike partner Cristina Ferreira. This could affect the way she plays, so it could take a few games for her to adjust.

On the other end, you had High, who likes to protect the back four by closing down the space from the opposition number 10. By doing this, it allowed the two center-backs to pick up the lone striker. Marau will be the first-choice left-back for Vilaverdense as she was part of a great Gaia defense last season. An exciting loan signing they have made is Francisca Silva from Sporting CP. From what I’ve read about her, she can play either as a full-back, or if they want to go five at the back, she can play the left/right center-back role. Based on pre-season, it looks like she’ll start off as the right back, but this versatility will be crucial for Pacheco’s squad throughout the season.

To add to this, Pacheco has made a few foreign signings that I can’t claim to know much about. Players such as Sini Laaksonen and Natalie Oronoz will have joined to get regular minutes. Vilaverdense have also signed an unknown prospect in Huynh Nhu. She becomes the first female Vietnamese female player to play for a European club. She has a rich history and is probably the most notable Vietnamese player ever. Nhu is the national team’s highest-ever scorer and is their captain – to add to this, she has won four golden boots in the Vietnamese domestic league.

She’s also helped her country qualify for their first-ever World Cup in 2023 and has moved here to improve her game before the World Cup. I’m already excited for the deadly partnership of Schmidt and Nhu for this season. Finally, they have signed some exciting young talent to keep an eye on, and these are Mara Gonçalves, Rafaela Mesquita, and Cheila. All three of these are attacking options, and I won’t be surprised if any of them go on to nail down a starting spot.

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Amora

Amora finished top of the Losers’ Bracket comfortably, finishing nine points clear of the playoffs. The main reason they got promoted was due to how good at going forward they were. They scored 53 goals in 14 games, just under an average of four goals per game. However, with the loss of several key attackers such as Mafalda Marujo, Ana Rocha, and Beatriz Rodrigues, it looks like they will struggle to replicate this attacking form. They only managed to keep three clean sheets at the other end of the pitch in these 14 games. This stat shows they played “heavy metal” football, trying to get as many players up the field as possible.

To stay up in this league, they will have to change their style of football as the top teams will slice through them, and the score will get ugly. To try and make themselves more defensively stable, they signed Irís Silva, who helped Damaiense in their promotion season. She kept 13 clean sheets in 23 mmatches in the second division last season and could provide this stability at the back for Amora.

They also signed exciting prospect Ines Moreira from Sporting CP. Moreira is a winger but can play as a makeshift forward if needed. Carolina Durque will be the main forward after scoring seven goals last season. The loss of other key forwards means that the pressure will be on her to provide the goals for Amora. It’s a big ask for a 20-year-old, but I believe she has the ability to keep Amora up in what it looks like to be a tough season.

 

Valadares Gaia

On the final day of the season, Gaia managed to get promoted with a 3-0 over Clube Atlético Ouriense in the Losers’ Bracket. Gaia were completely opposite of Amora in that their defensive numbers were far better than their attacking numbers. Let me list some important facts:

• They conceded 10 goals in 14 games.
• They kept 7 clean sheets out of these 14 games.
• 4 of the 10 conceded goals came against Amora.

These defensive numbers are down to keeper Erin Seppi who was signed just before the Losers’ Bracket began. Seppi was a great shot-stopper and will be their number one this season. The defense in front of her deserves the same credit. Inês Queiroga (right back), Opal Curless (center-back), Madalena Marau (left-back) were the mainstays of the team, with Chelsi Jadoo and Joana Monteiro fighting for the final center-back position.

As you read before Marau has left to join Vilaverdense, and it looks like Jadoo won’t be staying with Gaia this season. They have signed 20-year-old Swedish left-back Grace Wallin, and it seems like she’ll be the one to replace Marau. Another loss to the defence is Shelby High, and as mentioned before, she was perfect for Gaia last season. I’d be lying if I knew who would step in this defensive midfield hole, captain Claudia Lima could play, but it would waste her ability in the final third. It’ll be interesting to see who new manager António Martins Silva chooses for this role.

At the other end of the pitch, last season Gaia relied heavily on both Malu Schmidt and Cristina Ferreira. Between them, they scored 27 goals across both leagues. With Gaia losing Schmidt, they will lose this key strike partnership. I feel Gaia will change formation, so Ferreria will be the lone striker, and they’ll play with wingers. This will allow them to play another midfield if they need protection after losing High.

Rita Dias will be the one to benefit from this, as she can play on either wing. Rita scored nine goals last season but played more of a left/right midfield position. Pushing her up the field will allow her to have more of the ball in the final third, and this could be Gaia’s secret weapon to fix the loss of Schmidt. If Gaia can replicate their defensive numbers from last season, then they should achieve a solid mid-table finish this season. It’s hard to say whether these performances were actually good or if they were just down to the teams they faced in the Losers’ Bracket, but numbers in football don’t lie.

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Clube Atlético Ouriense

Despite losing the playoff final to qualify for Liga BPI last season, Atlético are still in the league. CF Benfica failed to register in time, forcing the league to kick them out and allow Atlético in. Manager Marco Ramos has let key players such as Raíza Paraíba and Ana Sampaio go. In total, only five of the squad from last season remain. Ramos has replaced these very smartly as he knows they won’t get a second chance again. Newly signed Melanie Cunha will make a good striker partnership with Sara Brasil.

Cunha is a quick striker that likes the ball to be played in front of her, whereas Brasil likes the ball to her feet. This partnership could be key if they want to survive relegation. Sofia Sena looks like another smart signing. She arrives from another Atlético Mineiro in Brazil and will help to dictate play for her new club. Ana Rita Oliveira will be playing for her 5th top division Portugal club despite only being 24 years old. She’s changed club this time to get first-team football, as when she joined Torreense at the back end of the season, Ana Rita was rotated in and out of the squad.

A key defender in front of her is Sony Costa. She’s an attacking right-back that likes to get stuck in with her tackles. Costa scored two goals and set up three last season, but her goal involvement will only improve with a regular goal scorer like Cunha. A signing to look out for is Leonilde Rodrigues – she’s a right winger who played for a poor Atlético CP side last season. Playing in that poor side, she still managed five attacking returns for them. Atlético will probably be one of the favourites to go down, but they’ll be hoping for strong defensive displays to help carry them to safety. They also have the experience of club captain Jéssica Pastilha who has been playing regular football since she was 16.

 

Damaiense

Damaiense are the only promoted team in the Liga BPI this season. They are the only team that I didn’t watch or check any of their results last season, so I can’t go into much depth about them. Despite this, I’ll talk about some of their new exciting players and how they will help Damaiense to a comfortable position at the table. Their two new forwards, Marta Ferreira and Melany Fortes, are both young forwards, but they’ve already established themselves in Portuguese football.

Ferreira left Sporting CP to join Damaiense for guaranteed first-team football. Sporting CP fans wanted her to stay to build on her first couple of senior seasons. The fact that those fans wanted her to stay shows that she is a great player with an exciting future ahead of her. Then you have Fortes, who has come from a different path. Fortes scored 27 goals in 31 games for CF Benfica in the second division last season and will want to prove herself in the top division.

Another player with a similar history to Ferreira is Beatriz Cameirão, who left Benfica. Despite playing regular football last season, I think she wanted guaranteed starts and a chance to prove that she is a great player who doesn’t need top players around her to perform. I’m looking forward to this trio of players and seeing how they get on this season. Defensively, Damaiense have 18-year-old Ana Assucena. As stated before, I don’t know anything about these promotion winners, but Assucena’s goal contributions for a center-back will certainly catch your eye. She scored 18 goals in 22 games in the league. For a center-back, that’s very impressive and must mean she is a huge threat from set pieces.

 

Thank you all for taking the time to read the article, and I hope you are excited for the start of the new season as I am. I just want to thank Tre for allowing me to publish this article on his website and Jath for proofreading this. If you haven’t created an account for the RealFevr Liga BPI Fantasy game yet, click on this link to join!

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You can find additional Liga BPI Fantasy resources for the 22/23 season here.