Round four of the Portuguese Primeira Liga gets underway on Friday when Pacos de Ferreira play host to Estoril Praia at the Estadio Capital do Movel.
Cesar Peixoto's men head into the weekend as one of just two sides yet to pick up any points in the new campaign and will set out to end this poor record.
Match preview
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Pacos de Ferreira failed to get up and running in the new Portuguese top-flight campaign as they suffered a 3-0 thumping at the hands of Portimonense in their most recent outing two Mondays ago.
In a game where Uilton received his marching orders, the Pacenses were simply outplayed and outwitted on their home turf as Yago Caju, Luquinha and Ewerton all found the target to hand the Portimao outfit a resounding victory.
Prior to that, Pacos de Fereirea launched their 2022-23 Primeira Liga campaign with a slender 1-0 loss away to Gil Vicente on August 8, when Ali Alipour struck with five minutes left in the game to hand the hosts all three points.
They have now lost each of their last four league outings, stretching back to last season, while they are winless in seven consecutive games since a 2-0 victory over Maritimo on April 9.
This has been owing to their dire display in attack, where they have scored just twice since their win over Maritimo and have failed to find the target in their last four league outings, and Peixoto, who is now under pressure to deliver, will hope for a different display from his frontmen this weekend.
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Estoril Praia, on the other hand, failed to return to winning ways last weekend as they were held to a 2-2 draw by a resilient Rio Ave side at the Estadio Antonio Coimbra da Mota.
After going ahead inside the opening 10 minutes through Rodrigo Martins, Costinha and Aziz scored second-half goals to turn the game around heading into the final quarter of an hour before Tiago Gouveia struck in the 80th minute to force a share of the spoils.
Prior to that, Nelson Verissimo's men had kicked off their campaign with a 2-0 victory over Famalicao in their league opener on August 6 before suffering a 1-0 defeat against Vitoria de Guimaraes one week later.
The Canarinhos' next task sees them take a trip to the Estadio Capital do Movel, where they are winless in seven of their last eight visits, picking up four draws and losing three games since a 3-0 victory in December 2013.
While Estoril Praia will be looking to improve on this poor record, they head into the weekend without an away win this year, managing just two draws and losing 10 games in their 12 outings since last December's 1-0 win at Belenenses.
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Team News
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Pacos de Ferreira will be without former Atletico Madrid midfielder Nicolas Gaitan, who was forced off injured inside the opening 15 minutes against Portimonense last time out.
His replacement in the game, Uilton, picked up a bizarre straight red three minutes after coming off the bench and the Brazilian is also out of contention for this weekend's matchup.
Other names on the Pacenses' injury table include the Portuguese defensive duo of Jorge Silva and Joao Vigario, who are currently recuperating from knee and thigh injuries respectively.
Meanwhile, Estoril Praia will be without the services of Lucas Africo, who continues his long road to full fitness after suffering a long-term knee injury last November.
Gouveia has been involved in two of the visitors' four goals this season and the Benfica loanee should retain his role in attack, teaming up with Arthur Gomes and Martin, who also opened his account for the campaign against Rio Ave.
Pacos de Ferreira possible starting lineup:
Almeida; Delgado, Ganchas, Lima, Antunes; Pires, Holsgrove; Thomas, Djalo, Koffi; Sales
Estoril Praia possible starting lineup:
Figueira; Santos, Vital, Allvaro, Joaozinho; Siliki, Rosier; Gouveia, Geraldes, Martins; Gomes
We say: Pacos de Ferreira 2-2 Estoril Praia
Friday's game sees two sides who have stumbled into the new season square off and we expect them to take the game to each other in search of a morale-boosting result. Given their current form, Pacos de Ferreira and Estoril head into the weekend evenly matched on paper and we predict the spoils will be shared in an entertaining draw.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
