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Rio Ave
Primeira Liga | Gameweek 24
Mar 21, 2021 at 3pm UK
Estadio do Rio Ave
Belenenses

Rio Ave
0 - 0
Belenenses


Borevkovic (16'), Amaral (66'), Aderlan (87')
FT

Kritsyuk (3')

Preview: Rio Ave vs. Belenenses - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Sunday's Primeira Liga clash between Rio Ave and Belenenses, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Belenenses will look to continue their steady climb up the Primeira Liga table on Sunday when they travel to the Estadio dos Arcos to take on 10th-placed Rio Ave.

The sides are now separated by just one point in the top flight, and both will be hoping to build on positive runs of league form with a result on Sunday.


Match preview

Miguel Cardoso, now in charge of Rio Ave, pictured in 2018© Reuters

Rio Ave picked up a commendable point last time out, drawing 1-1 in a mid-table clash away at eighth-placed Moreirense.

Miguel Cardoso's men took the lead after just seven minutes as Filipe Soares put the ball into his own net, but the hosts would go on to equalise through Felipe Pires in the final 10 minutes, seeing the sides share the points.

That followed a 2-0 win at home to strugglers Farense, as Pele and Rafael Camacho netted goals to seal a sixth league win of the campaign for Os Rioavistas.

While Cardoso's side now sit ninth in the top flight, that position could be much better if he finds a way to improve their attack, as only one side have netted fewer than their 19 goals from 23 league outings this season.

That one team is Sunday's opponents, with Belenenses only scoring 14 goals so far this campaign, despite their recent rise up the table.

Belenenses head coach Petit pictured in July 2020© Reuters

The visitors got back to winning ways last time out, as Miguel Filipe Nunes Cardoso fired them to a 1-0 victory away at Farense.

Having previously sat in the bottom three, O Belem have enjoyed somewhat of an upturn in form recently, picking up seven points from their last four games.

As a result, Petit's men have moved up to 10th spot in the top flight, sitting just one point behind Sunday's opponents.

However, they are still not completely safe from the threat of relegation, with just a five-point gap between themselves and the automatic drop zone.

That means if Belenenses' form dips back down to the previous levels, they could quickly be dragged back into danger, and Petit will be desperate to increase their cushion with another win on Sunday.

Rio Ave Primeira Liga form:
  • W
  • W
  • L
  • L
  • W
  • D

Belenenses Primeira Liga form:
  • D
  • D
  • W
  • D
  • L
  • W


Team News

Rio Ave players Gelson and Carlos Mane celebrate after scoring against AC Milan in the Europa League in October 2020© Reuters

Rio Ave will be without right-back Ivo Pinto for this game, after he was shown his fifth yellow card of the season last time out, despite being an unused substitute in that game.

They will also be missing experienced left-back Fabio Coentrao, who has been absent for the last five games through injury.

It is not just the Rio Ave defence which has been hit with issues though, as midfielder Nikola Jambor and forward Andre Pereira both continue spells on the sidelines.

Belenenses will be without Ruben Lima and Thibang Phete for this game, after the pair both received their fifth yellow cards of the season last time out.

Forward Mateo Cassierra will be looking to return to the starting side, having been dropped to the bench for the game against Farense.

Rio Ave possible starting lineup:
Kieszek; Costinha, Borevkovic, Santos, Savio; Pele, Augusto; Mane, Geraldes, Camacho; Dala

Belenenses possible starting lineup:
Kritsyuk; Silva, Henrique, Ribeiro; Esgaio, Taira, Sithole, Varela; Cassierra, Cardoso Sousa


SM words green background

We say: Rio Ave 1-0 Belenenses

In a game between the league's two weakest attacks, it can be expected that this will be a low-scoring affair.

As a result, we see the slightly superior quality of Rio Ave making the difference as they pick up a narrow win over their mid-table rivals.



Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a double chance bet on a home win or an away win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Home/Away:data



ID:440002:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:collect8551:
Written by
Sam Varley

Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Rio Ave win with a probability of 43.31%. A draw had a probability of 29.4% and a win for Belenenses had a probability of 27.31%.

The most likely scoreline for a Rio Ave win was 1-0 with a probability of 14.69%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (8.9%) and 2-1 (8%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (13.19%), while for a Belenenses win it was 0-1 (10.88%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 12.1% likelihood.


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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Sporting Lisbon1311024083233
2Benfica1210113172431
3Porto1310123192231
4Santa ClaraSanta Clara139041612427
5Braga137332213924
6Vitoria de GuimaraesGuimaraes136341612421
7MoreirenseMoreirense136251918120
8FamalicaoFamalicao134631412218
9Rio AveRio Ave134361323-1015
10Casa Pia133551117-614
11Estoril PraiaEstoril133551219-714
12Gil Vicente133461624-813
13Estrela Amadora133371222-1012
14BoavistaBoavista13256816-811
15AVS132561021-1111
16Nacional12237717-109
17SC FarenseFarense13238719-129
18AroucaArouca13229723-168


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