Round 11 of the Portuguese Primeira Liga gets underway on Friday as Pacos de Ferreira and Maritimo go head to head at the Capital do Movel Municipal Stadium.
Both sides, who occupy the bottom two places in the league standings, are currently winless across all competitions this season and will set out to end this dire run.
Match preview
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Pacos de Ferreira's appointment of head coach Jose Mota has so far failed to bring about the much-needed turnaround as they suffered a 2-1 defeat against Famalicao when the sides squared off last Saturday.
Junior Kadile and Nigel Thomas scored for either side to end the first half level at the Estadio Municipal de Famalicao before Francisco Moura netted a 46th-minute winner to hand the hosts all three points.
This followed a disappointing 2-0 loss against Segunda Liga outfit Vitoria de Setubal on October 16, when Jose Valera and Adama Sene netted second-half goals at the Estadio do Bonfim to bring Mota's sides Taca de Portugal campaign to an end.
The Pacenses are now winless in their 11 games across all competitions this season, picking up two draws and losing nine in that time, and this underwhelming run of results sees them sit 17th in the Primeira Liga table, level on two points with last-placed Maritimo.
Pacos de Ferreira head into the weekend without a win in their last 15 league matches, stretching back to April 9 when they edged pot Friday's visitors 2-0 in the second of their two league encounters of the 2021-22 campaign.
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Maritimo, on the other hand, were involved in a share of the spoils for the second consecutive league outings as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Arouca on Sunday.
In a cagey affair at the Estadio do Maritimo, Andre Vidigal found the back of the net for the second straight game when he put the hosts ahead in the 13th minute before Antony Alves restored parity on the stroke of half time.
Prior to that, Joao Henriques's men picked up their first point of the 2022-23 Primeira Liga campaign when they played out a similar 1-1 draw with Boavista on October 9 to end their run of eight consecutive league defeats.
Sandwiched between the two draws, O Maior das Ilhas suffered a third-round exit from the Taca de Portugal courtesy of a 4-2 loss away to second-tier side Mafra two Saturdays ago.
Maritimo have now picked up two draws and lost nine of their 11 matches across all competitions this season, while conceding a staggering 30 goals and scoring just nine in that time.
While Henriques's side will be looking to pick up their first Primeira Liga victory since April 16, when they saw off 10-man Boavista 4-0 on home turf, this weekend's clash sees them journey to the Capital do Movel Municipal Stadium, where they are winless in 14 of their last 15 visits, losing seven and claiming seven draws since May 2009.
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Team News
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Twenty-one-year-old Thomas is a doubt for Pacos de Ferreira after the midfielder came off injured midway through the second half against Famalicao last weekend.
In his absence, Brazilian youngster Kayky could come into the Pacenses' XI, teaming up with fellow countryman Uilton Silva and Stade de Reims loanee N'Dri Koffi, who has two goals and one assist this season.
Adrian Butzke registered a goal to put O Maior das Ilhas to the sword when the sides squared off in April and the Spaniard will be looking to deliver the goods once again.
Meanwhile, 26-year-old midfielder Joel Sonora is back in contention for Maritimo after the American missed last weekend's game against Arouca through a one-match suspension.
With his opener against the Arouquenses, Vidigal has now found the back of the net in each of his last two matches and the Portuguese forward should lead the visitors' attack once again.
Pacos de Ferreira possible starting lineup:
Vekic; Delgado, Ilori, Ramos, Antunes; Pires, Toma; Sales, Thomas, Uilton; Koffi
Maritimo possible starting lineup:
Trmal; Costa, Junior, Andrade; Winck, Mendes, Beltrame, Costa; Xadas, Tagueu, Vidigal
We say: Pacos de Ferreira 1-1 Maritimo
Pacos de Ferreira and Maritimo have endured a gruesome start to the season and currently sit in the bottom two places in the league standings. Both sides head into the weekend in similar form and we predict that the spoils will be shared between the evenly-matched teams.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
