Preview: Estoril Praia vs Vitoria de Guimaraes - prediction, team news, lineups

Estoril Praia will look to continue their resurgent run as they welcome Vitoria de Guimaraes to Lisbon for Saturday’s Primeira Liga matchday 19 clash at Estadio Antonio Coimbra da Mota.

Ian Cathro’s men have recorded three wins in their last four league games (L1), a sequence that has lifted them into ninth place in the Portuguese top flight, just two points behind their visitors from Minho, who sit directly above them.

Match preview

Confidence could hardly be higher for an Estoril side enjoying their best spell of the Primeira Liga campaign, having even picked up more points than during the four-match unbeaten run they put together between October 3 and November 9 (W2, D2).

That earlier stretch gave way to a three-game winless league run and four without a victory across all competitions, including their Taca de Portugal elimination, but the Canaries have since rediscovered their spark, largely thanks to their sharpness in the final third.

Estoril’s last four outings – all in the Primeira Liga – have produced a combined total of 11 goals, five of which came in last weekend’s emphatic victory away to 10-man Estrela Amadora, who failed to respond at the other end.

A blistering start saw Cathro’s men take the lead inside three minutes through Joao Carvalho, before Yanis Begraoui struck a second-half hat-trick, with Alejandro Marques also getting his name on the scoresheet to seal the Canaries’s biggest win of the top flight.

Putting their current run into perspective, Estoril’s only blemish across the last three league games was a 3-1 defeat away to Benfica, and they appear on course for another strong second-half surge, having launched a run of six wins in seven matches (D1) from matchdays 18 to 24 last season.

The Canaries can also draw confidence from their revived home form, having won three of their last four league matches at the Coimbra da Mota, a sharp contrast to the previous five, in which they managed just one victory (D2, L2).

Vitoria are likely to provide stern opposition, considering their strong record on the road, with the Conquerors unbeaten in their last five away matches across all competitions, winning four of those, including a 2-1 triumph over rivals Braga in the Taca da Liga final.

After ending a 13-year wait for silverware, Luis Pinto may not dwell too heavily on last weekend’s narrow 1-0 home defeat to league leaders Porto, even if it marked a second loss in their last four Primeira Liga outings (W1, D1).

Currently eighth and six points adrift of the top four, Guimaraes will be looking to reignite their European push with a positive result, though there remains work to be done in improving their attacking output.

Vitoria have scored just 18 league goals this season, the second-fewest among teams above the relegation playoff spot, a return that offers limited encouragement, especially as they failed to find the net in their last visit to Estoril, though that 1-0 defeat stands as the Conquerors’s only setback in the last eight meetings between the sides (W7).

Estoril Praia Primeira Liga form:

Vitoria de Guimaraes Primeira Liga form:

Vitoria de Guimaraes form (all competitions):

Team News

Estoril could again be without attacker Andre Lacximicant, who has missed each of the last three outings, while midfielder Xeka has been sidelined for several months, although reports suggest his return is drawing closer.

Cathro is expected to retain the same attacking trio for a third consecutive match, with Rafik Guitane, Alejandro Marques and hat-trick hero Begraoui leading the line, the latter now on 11 Primeira Liga goals for the season.

Guimaraes’s defeat to Porto carried further consequences, as winger Telmo Arcanjo was sent off in stoppage time after collecting two yellow cards, despite coming on as a late substitute, ruling him out of this encounter.

Midfielder Beni Mukendi will also be absent after picking up his fifth booking of the campaign in the same match, while captain Nelson Oliveira continues to serve a suspension stemming from his dismissal in the League Cup final against Braga.

On the injury front, midfielder Oscar Rivas Viondi remains sidelined with a muscle problem sustained in Vitoria’s Taca de Portugal defeat to AVS on December 17.

Estoril Praia possible starting lineup:

Robles; Bacher, Boma, Amaral; R Sanchez, Holsgrove, Orellana, J Carvalho; Guitane, Marques, Begraoui

Vitoria de Guimaraes possible starting lineup:

Castillo; Maga, Nobrega, Abascal, Lebedenko; Nogueira, Mitrovic; Camara, Samu, Saviolo; Ndoye

We say: Estoril Praia 2-2 Vitoria de Guimaraes

Estoril enter this encounter in excellent shape and full of confidence, though Guimaraes are unlikely to be short of belief themselves, particularly after pushing an in-form Porto side close last time out.

With both teams boasting momentum on home and away soil respectively, this contest could see them cancel each other out, and an open encounter looks likely, especially given Estoril’s end-to-end tendencies, reflected in their 33 goals scored and 29 conceded so far.

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