Preview: Estrela Amadora vs Gil Vicente - prediction, team news, lineups

The Portuguese Primeira Liga returns with a fresh set of fixtures as Estrela Amadora and Gil Vicente go head to head at the Estadio Jose Gomes on Sunday.

While the home side flirt with the prospect of relegation, Gil Vicente continue to push for a return to Europe and could move within two points of Braga in the UEFA Conference League qualifying spot.

Match preview

With the season’s run-in fast approaching, Estrela Amadora continue to drop valuable points in the bottom half of the table as they were held to a goalless draw by bottom AVS at the Estadio do CD das Aves last Saturday.

The visitors were guilty of a lack of sting in attack, where a total of 27 shots were fired between the two teams, but neither goalkeeper would end up picking the ball out of the back of the net, with a draw being a fair result upon reflection.

Having picked up two wins and one draw from their four matches in December, it has been a challenging start to the year for Estrela Amadora, who have failed to win eight of their nine matches across all competitions, losing four and claiming four draws so far.

This poor run of form has seen Joao Nuno’s men slide into relegation contention, as this weekend’s visitors sit 12th in the Primeira Liga standings with 24 points from 24 matches, five points above 16th-placed Tondela in the relegation playoff spot.

Next up for Estrela is the challenge of an opposing side who are unbeaten in four of their previous five meetings since January 2024, picking up two wins and two draws while scoring seven goals and keeping two clean sheets.

Gil Vicente suffered consecutive Primeira Liga defeats for the first time since April 2025 last Monday when they were beaten 2-1 by Benfica at the Estadio Cidade de Barcelos.

Antonio Silva broke the deadlock in the 35th minute to hand Benfica a first-half lead, and after Hector Hernandez restored parity in the 51st minute, Andreas Schjelderup struck in the 73rd minute to hand the visitors a hard-fought victory.

This followed a somewhat disappointing 3-1 loss against Estoril Praia at the Estadio Antonio Coimbra da Mota on February 22, a result which saw Gil Vicente’s run of three consecutive victories in the league come to an end.

Despite their recent struggles, Cesar Peixoto's men remain firmly in the race for European qualification, as they sit fifth in the Primeira Liga standings with 40 points from 24 matches, five points behind fourth-placed Braga in the Conference League qualification spot.

While Gil Vicente will be looking to find their feet and reignite their push for a top-four finish, results on the road offer little optimism, with the Gilistas failing to win six of their seven away matches since the start of October.

Estrela Amadora Primeira Liga form:

Gil Vicente Primeira Liga form:

Team News

Estrela suffered a double injury blow against AVS last time out, with Sydney van Hooijdonk and Jefferson Encada coming off injured midway through the second half, and the duo will play no part in this weekend’s tie.

New signing Bruno Langa has missed each of the last three games since suffering an injury on his debut against Santa Clara on February 7 and the 28-year-old defender is out of contention for the hosts.

Twenty-three-year-old Leandro Antonetti missed the game against AVS last weekend through injury and the Puerto Rican striker is also a doubt for Sunday’s matchup.

As for Gil Vicente, the French duo of striker Tidjany Toure and 23-year-old defender Jonathan Mutombo are currently ruled out as they continue their spells on the sidelines.

They are joined on the Gilistas’ injury table by 21-year-old midfielder Mohamed Bamba, who has missed each of the last five games since coming off injured against Porto in January.

Estrela Amadora possible starting lineup:

Ribeiro; Doue, Schappo, Lekovic, Galdino; Jansson; Marcus. Stoica, Moreira, Cabral; Pinho

Gil Vicente possible starting lineup:

Lucao; Ze Carlos, Mananga, Elimbi, Konan; Caseres, Esteves; Souza, Garcia, Moreira; Hernandez

We say: Estrela Amadora 1-2 Gil Vicente

Having dropped six points in their last two games, Gil Vicente will be keen to find their feet this weekend as they look to move within touching distance of the European qualifying places.

The Gilistas are up against a floundering Estrela side, who have managed just one win this year, and we see them doing just enough to secure all three points at the Estadio Jose Gomes.

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