Portimonense and Chaves get round seven of the Portuguese Primeira Liga underway when they go head to head at the Estadio Municipal de Portimao on Friday.
Paulo Sergio's men are currently on a run of two consecutive wins in front of their fans and will be looking to make it three home wins on the bounce in the league for the first time since January 2019.
Match preview
Portimonense were sent crashing down to earth in the Primeira Liga as they fell to a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Sporting Lisbon when the sides squared off at the Estadio Jose Alvalade last Saturday.
A first-half brace from Barcelona loanee Francisco Trincao set Ruben Amorim's side on their way to a comfortable victory before Pedro Goncalves and Nuno Santos scored in a four-minute spell to hand the Leoes all three points.
Prior to that, the Alvinegros were on a run of four consecutive victories in the league, scoring seven goals and keeping three clean sheets since kicking off their campaign with a 1-0 loss at home against Boavista on September 7.
Sergio's side have now picked up 12 points from their opening six games of the season to sit fourth in the Primeira Liga standings, level on points with fifth-placed Boavista and six points off first-placed Benfica, who currently boast a perfect record in the league.
While Portimonense will be looking to quickly find their feet and pick up a third home win on the spin, their next task sees them take on a Chaves side who have won each of the last four meetings between the teams since a 3-1 defeat in September 2017.
Vítor Campelos's side were condemned to their second defeat of the season last Saturday when they were beaten 3-0 by reigning champions Porto at the Estadio do Dragao.
After grabbing his fourth league goal of the season to put the hosts in front heading into the half-time break, Mehdi Taremi teed up strike partner Evanilson for the second of the game before substitute Andre Franco put the icing on the cake with an 82nd-minute strike.
Prior to that, Chaves were unbeaten in four consecutive outings, picking up two wins — including a tremendous 2-0 victory over 2020-21 champions Sporting Lisbon on August 27 — and two draws since their opening-day 1-0 loss against Vitoria de Guimaraes on August 7.
Last weekend's defeat against Sergio Conceicao's men, which extended Chaves' wait for a home victory this season, has seen them drop to 10th place in the Primeira Liga table after picking up eight points from the first 15 available.
However, the Flavienses are unbeaten in all but one of their last six games on the road across all competitions, claiming four wins and one draw while scoring eight goals and keeping three clean sheets since the start of July.
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Team News
Portimonense will have to make do without the Brazilian trio of midfielders Carlinhos and Gustavo Klismahn and 23-year-old forward Yago Cariello, who are all recuperating from injuries.
Anderson Oliveira is set to sit out his fifth consecutive game after the 24-year-old came off injured in the game against Pacos de Ferreira on August 15, while Adewale Sapara continues his spell on the sidelines through a muscle problem.
Pedro Sa missed the trip to Sporting Lisbon last time out after he was forced off inside 32 minutes against Famalicao on September 4 and the Portuguese midfielder is out of contention for the home side.
Chaves, on the other hand, will be without the services of former AEL Limassol full-back Eulller after the 27-year-old came off injured in just his second appearance for the club since his summer move.
He is joined on the club's injury table by goalkeeper Rodrigo Moura, who has been out of action since July, while Patrick Fernandes will serve the last of his three-game suspension after picking up a straight red against Sporting Lisbon back in August.
Portimonense possible starting lineup:
Nakamura; Ouattara, Pedrao, Relvas, Moufi; Moreira, Jocu; Costa, Seck, Ferreira; Luquinha
Chaves possible starting lineup:
Fagundes; Correia, Monte, Vitoria, Langa; Guimaraes, Mendes, Teixeira; Arriba, Hernandez, Juninho
We say: Portimonense 2-1 Chaves
Portimonense will be looking to quickly bounce back to winning ways after seeing their four-game winning streak come to an end last weekend. They have been impressive on their home turf in recent weeks and we predict that they will come away with all three points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
