Preview: Boavista vs. Gil Vicente - prediction, team news, lineups

A key clash takes place at the bottom of the Primeira Liga table on Friday night, as Boavista welcome Gil Vicente to the Estadio do Bessa.

Currently, just one point separates the two sides, with Boavista sitting in the relegation playoff place, one place above Friday's visitors who occupy an automatic relegation spot.

Match preview

Boavista picked up a huge win last time out in their bid for survival, beating Portimonense 2-1 away from home.

The home side took the lead through Ewerton, but goals from Alberth Elis and Paulinho sealed a crucial second victory of the season for Jesusaldo Ferreira's side.

That result lifted his team off the foot of the table, leapfrogging Farense and Gil Vicente and they now sit level on points with Famalicao in 15th place, a position that guarantees survival in the top flight.

Encouragingly for As Panteras, they now sit just one point behind Belenenses in 12th place, indicating how tight the bottom half of the Primeira Liga is, meaning a couple more good results could see Boavista move away from danger.

However, they do have underlying issues, especially in defence, with only one side conceding more than their 27 from 16 league games.

Although, they do come up a Gil Vicente side who have struggled to find goals throughout this season.

Ricardo Soares's have scored just 11 goals from their 16 league outings, with only one side in the Primeira Liga scoring fewer so far.

As a result, Os Gilistas have picked up just three wins this season, sitting on 13 points approaching the second half of the campaign.

However, like their opponents, Gil Vicente will be encouraged by the fact that one win could change the entire landscape of this end of the table, and a win over Boavista would see them move back ahead of As Panteras.

Their recent form is a major cause for concern though, having lost their last four league matches, seeing them move onto nine losses for the season.

Most recently, Soares's side fell to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Pacos de Ferreira, who picked up their fifth consecutive win. A late Alaa Abbas goal was not enough to salvage a result for Os Gilistas, however this was a more encouraging performance for the side battling to avoid relegation, against a good side in an excellent run of form.

They will be hoping to carry those positives into a game where they have a real opportunity to secure a vital three points as they look to avoid relegation to the Segunda Liga.

Boavista Primeira Liga form: LDDLLW

Gil Vicente Primeira Liga form: WDLLLL Gil Vicente form (all competitions): LWLLLL

Team News

Boavista will once again be without Chiwodie Awaziem, who will serve a one-game suspension following his fifth yellow card picked up in his first game back following a red card.

Midfielder Paulinho will also be unavailable for this game after he picked up his fifth yellow card in the Portimonense game, in which he scored the winning goal.

The hosts are also without midfielder Miguel Reisinho, who ruptured his cruciate ligament in November.

Angel Gomes is expected to lead the line for Boavista, having scored three goals and assisted six in the Primeira Liga so far this season.

The away side remain without young attacker Miullen, who remains out with a knee injury.

Defender Diogo Silva also remains unavailable through injury.

Boavista possible starting lineup: Leonardo; Cannon, Devenish, Rami, Mangas; Garcia, Santos, Show; Sauer, Gomes, Elis

Gil Vicente possible starting lineup: Denis; Pereira, Rodrigao, Fernandes, Gomes; Goncalves, Mineiro, Afonso; Lourency, Lino, Baraye

We say: Boavista 1-0 Gil Vicente

This is undoubtedly a game which both sides will see as a great opportunity to pick up a crucial three points, however we see the hosts edging out their opponents in this one, partly down to the poor recent form of the visitors and the renewed confidence of Boavista thanks to their recent win. We expect them to make it two wins on the bounce with a narrow victory here.