Two sides separated by just one point and one place in the bottom half of the Primeira Liga standings go head to head on Sunday when Rio Ave play host to Santa Clara at the Estadio dos Arcos.
Os Acoreanos head into the weekend unbeaten in each of their last five games against the home side since January 2020 and will look to continue in the same vein.
Match preview
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Rio Ave continue to struggle for results in the early stages of the new Primeira Liga campaign as they were held to a 2-2 draw by Gil Vicente at the Estadio Cidade de Barcelos two Saturdays ago.
The Gilistas fought back from two goals down as Fran Navarro and Murilo de Souza scored in the final 10 minutes of the game to cancel out strikes from Goncalo Rodrigues and Aziz to force a share of the spoils.
Luis Freire's men have now failed to win any of their most recent three games, picking up two draws and losing once since a surprise 3-1 victory over league champions Porto on September 28.
Rio Ave, who clinched the Segunda Liga title last term to gain promotion, have picked up one win, three draws and lost three of their seven games this season to collect six points and sit 13th in the Primeira Liga standings, one point and one place above Sunday's visitors.
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Meanwhile, Santa Clara failed to make it two wins from two in front of their home fans as they were held to a 1-1 draw with Pacos de Ferreira when the sides squared off on September 17.
In an end-to-end affair at the Estadio de Sao Miguel, Palmeiras loanee Gabriel Silva struck in the seventh minute to hand the hosts a first-half victory but teenager Matchoi Djalo restored parity with a 53rd-minute effort.
Prior to that, Os Acoreanos picked up their first win of the season on September 4, when they saw off Maritimo 2-1 on home turf to end their three-match losing streak, before crashing down to earth in a 1-0 defeat against Vitoria de Guimaraes five days later.
While Mario Silva's side will be looking to return to winning ways, they have struggled to get going on the road, where they have lost each of their three games this season and are without a win in 11 straight outings since January.
However, Santa Clara will fancy their chances of ending this dire run as they go up against a Rio Ave side who they are unbeaten against in their last five encounters, claiming three wins and two draws since a 1-0 loss in January 2020.
Team News
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Rio Ave will take to the pitch without 25-year-old midfielder Rodrigues, who will serve his one-match suspension after receiving his marching orders against Gil Vicente last time out.
In his absence, veteran midfielder Vitor Gomes will push for his fourth starting appearance of the season, potentially teaming up with Frenchman Amine Oudrhiri at the centre of the park.
On the injury front, Freire will be unable to call upon the services of 33-year-old defender Aderllan Santos, who was forced off with a 37th-minute injury in the game against the Gilistas.
As far as Santa Clara are concerned, Tomas Domingos, who completed a summer move from Segunda Liga side Mafra, continues to await his debut after sustaining an injury back in May.
He is joined on Os Acoreanos's injury table by Paulo Henrique, who was forced off midway through the first half against Pacos de Ferreira last time out, and midfielder Costinha, who is yet to feature this year after picking up an ACL injury last August.
Rio Ave possible starting lineup:
Jhonatan; Costinha, Sa, Santos, Amaral; BaezaBaeza, Oudrhiri, Gomes, Vitor; Aziz, Boateng
Santa Clara possible starting lineup:
Pereira; Sagna, Boateng, Gonzalez, Henrique; Bobsin, Firmino, Ricardinho; Silva, Babi, Allano
We say: Rio Ave 1-1 Santa Clara
Rio Ave and Santa Clara have endured slow starts to the league campaign and find themselves separated by just one point in the second half of the standings after seven rounds of matches. Both sides are evenly-matched on paper and we predict that the spoils will be shared in this one as they also head into the game in similar form.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
