Round 22 of the Portuguese Primeira Liga gets underway on Friday when Famalicao and Portimonense go head to head at the Estadio Municipal de Famalicao.
The visitors are currently unbeaten in 11 consecutive meetings between the sides and will head into the weekend looking to complete a third league double in the last four seasons over the Vila Nova.
Match preview
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Famalicao recorded their first Primeira Liga away win of the year last Sunday when they picked up a 3-1 victory over Santa Clara at the Estadio de Sao Miguel.
Ivan Jaime struck three minutes into the second half before Xavier Quintilla restored parity in the 75th minute, but an own goal from Paulo and Alexandre Penetra's 94th-minute strike saw the visitors grab their seventh win of the season.
Prior to that, Joao Pedro Sousa's men were on a run of two consecutive league defeats, losing 4-1 against Braga on February 5 before suffering a 1-0 home loss at the hands of Gil Vicente one week later.
However, sandwiched between the two losses, the Vila Nova booked their place in the semi-finals of the Taca de Portugal courtesy of a comfortable 4-1 victory over Segunda Liga side Belenenses on February 8.
Famalicao now return home, where they are unbeaten in all but one of their last seven matches — picking up three wins and three draws — with the loss to Gil Vicente a fortnight ago being the only exception.
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Elsewhere, Portimonense made it three home successive games without defeat since the turn of the year as they rallied from behind to snatch a late 2-1 victory over Maritimo last Saturday.
Bruno Xadas opened the scoring inside the opening 13 minutes to hand O Maior das Ilhas a first-half lead but Mauricio and Welinton Junior both found the target in the final six minutes of the game to turn things around.
Paulo Sergio's side have now picked up two wins and one draw in their three matches at the Estadio Municipal de Portimao this year, with their last home defeat coming on December 28, when they were beaten 2-1 by Casa Pia.
While Portimonense have shown resilience in front of their home fans, their form on the road is nothing to write home about as they are currently on a run of five consecutive away defeats and have lost nine of their last 10 outings since the start of September.
However, the Alvinegros will be backing themselves to end this poor run as this weekend's game pits them against a Famalicao side who they are on a five-game winning streak against and are unbeaten in each of their last 11 meetings since a 3-0 loss in November 2015.
With 26 points from 21 matches, Portimonense are currently 11th in the Primeira Liga standings, level on points with Chaves, Vizela and Boavista but two points and two places above Friday's hosts.
Team News
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Famalicao will be without striker Jhonder Cadiz, who will serve the first of his three-game suspension after picking up a straight red against Santa Clara last Sunday.
In his absence, Spezia loanee Leandro Sanca could be tasked with leading the attack, with 22-year-old Jamie and Mihai Alexandru Dobre offering support from the flanks.
On the injury front, Sousa will be unable to call upon the attacking duo of Theo Fonseca and Jose Luis Rodriguez, who are currently recuperating from ACL and knee injuries respectively.
Portimonense, on the other hand, remain without long-term absentee Carlinhos, who has been out of action since picking up an ACL injury last May.
Meanwhile, Goncalo Costa has missed the last six matches after coming off injured against Benfica on January 6 and the Portuguese defender is ruled out of Friday's tie.
Famalicao possible starting lineup:
Junior; Penetra, Mihaj, Riccieli, Moura; Youssouf, Colombatto; Rodrigues, Jaime, Dobre; Sanca
Portimonense possible starting lineup:
Nakamura; Moufi, Lucas, Relvas, Park, Seck; Ouattara, Diaby, Ventura; Cariello, Junior
We say: Famalicao 1-1 Portimonense
With just two points separating Famalicao and Portimonense in the league table, we can expect a riveting contest at the Estadio Municipal de Famalicao. Both sides will look to build on their respective victories last time out and we anticipate that they will cancel each other's efforts in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
