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Boavista
Primeira Liga | Gameweek 29
Apr 22, 2023 at 6pm UK
Estádio do Bessa Século XXI
Rio Ave

Boavista
3 - 2
Rio Ave

Njie (9'), Lourenco (12'), Mangas (35')
Silva (86')
FT(HT: 3-1)
Hernani (15'), Boateng (85')
Sa (42'), Boateng (88')

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

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

Boavista will be looking to make it two back-to-back home wins for the first time since September when they welcome Rio Ave to the Estadio do Bessa on Saturday.

Currently separated by just one point and one place in the Primeira Liga table, we anticipate a thrilling battle ensuing between the two sides as they push for a top-half finish.


Match preview

Boavista's Yusupha Njie in action with Benfica's Chiquinho on February 20, 2023© Reuters

Boavista's dreams of securing European football for the first time since the 2002-03 campaign suffered another blow as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Vizela last Saturday.

Following an uneventful first half at the Estadio do FC Vizela, Yusupha Nije broke the deadlock in the 71st minute to put the visitors ahead before substitute Osama Rashid restored parity with three minutes remaining in the game.

Prior to that, Petit's side snapped their run of three straight defeats on April 7, when they picked up a 2-1 win over Vitoria de Guimaraes courtesy of goals from Salvador Agra and Gaius Makouta.

While Boavista have failed to win any of their last three away games, they now return to the Estadio do Bessa, where they are unbeaten in six of their seven games since the turn of the year, claiming three wins and three draws.

Rio Ave's Andre Pereira in action with Benfica's Chiquinho on April 2, 2023© Reuters

Rio Ave, on the other hand, failed to arrest their slump in form as they could only salvage a 1-1 draw against Casa Pia at the Estadio dos Arcos last Sunday.

Despite being on the back foot for most of the game, Rafael Martins struck against the run of play to hand the visitors a 17th-minute lead but Renato Pantalon netted seven minutes after the interval to force a share of the spoils.

The Vilacondenses have now gone three consecutive matches without a win, claiming two points from a possible nine since picking up successive wins over Gil Vicente and Santa Clara in March.

This poor run of form has seen Luis Freire's men drop to 11th place in the Primeira Liga standings, one point above Saturday's hosts and 10 adrift of the final Europa Conference League qualification spot.

However, Rio Ave will be backing themselves to kick-start their turnaround this weekend as they face a Boavista side against whom they are unbeaten in 15 of their last 17 meetings, claiming 12 wins and three draws since September 2014.

Boavista Primeira Liga form:

Rio Ave Primeira Liga form:


Team News

Rio Ave's Fabio Ronaldo celebrates scoring their first goal with Abdul-Aziz Yakubu and Costinha on October 8 2022© Reuters

Rodrigo Abascal will play no part in this weekend's clash as he serves the second of his three-game suspension after picking up a straight red against Vitoria de Guimaraes on April 7.

In his absence, Vincent Sasso should form the centre-back pairing with Reggie Cannon once again, with Igor Juliao and Matheus Pereira taking up the full-back roles respectively.

Njie took his goal tally to 11 goals with his strike against Vizela and the 29-year-old should team up with Kenji Gorre and Salvador Agra in attack for the third consecutive game.

Meanwhile, Rio Ave will take to the pitch without the services of Portuguese midfielder Joca, who has been out of action since last September through a knee injury.

Emmanuel Boateng has struggled in front of goal for the Vilacondenses and the Ghanaian forward, who has now failed to hit the target in 17 consecutive games, could be dropped to the bench, with Hernani pushing for a starting role.

Boavista possible starting lineup:
Bracali; Juliao, Cannon, Sasso, Pereira; Perez, Makouta, Lourenco; Agra, Gorre, Njie

Rio Ave possible starting lineup:
Jhonatan; Pantalon, Santos, William; Costinha, Samaris, Guga, Ronaldo; Graca, Pereira, Hernani


SM words green background

We say: Boavista 1-1 Rio Ave

While Boavista and Rio Ave have run out of steam in recent weeks, they have an outside chance of securing a spot in Europe. With that said, both sides head into the weekend knowing defeat could effectively spell the end of their European ambitions. We predict they will take a cautious approach to the game and settle for a share of the spoils.



For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.


Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 2.5 goals 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.Under 2.5:data


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Written by
Joshua Ojele

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Game History

How you voted: Boavista vs Rio Ave

Boavista
66.7%
Draw
33.3%
Rio Ave
0.0%
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Today's games header
Tables header RHS
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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