Preview: Rio Ave vs Casa Pia - prediction, team news, lineups

Seeking their first Primeira Liga home win since the start of October, Rio Ave go head to head with Casa Pia at the Estadio dos Arcos in their first outing of 2026 on Sunday.

The two sides signed off the year in contrasting fashion, with Os Gansos crawling out of the danger zone and looking to build on that momentum in the second half of the season.

Match preview

Rio Ave were played off the park by Sporting Lisbon in their final outing of the year as they suffered a 4-0 thrashing when the two sides squared off last Sunday.

In a one-sided affair at the Estadio Jose Alvalade, Luis Javier Suarez turned in a performance of the highest quality, netting a hat-trick to fire Sporting Lisbon to their 13th league victory.

This capped off a sour end to the year for Sotiris Sylaidopoulos’s side, who failed to win six of their closing seven matches, losing three and claiming three draws since picking up consecutive victories over Tondela and Estrela Amadora back in October.

Last weekend’s defeat also highlighted the Vilacondenses' struggles at the defensive end of the pitch, where they have conceded 28 goals already, with only Casa Pia (29), Arouca (39) and AVS (41) shipping more.

Rio Ave have lost five of their 16 Primeira Liga matches so far while picking up three wins and eight draws to collect 17 points and sit 11th in the league standings, level on points with 12th-placed Alverca, but they could move into the top half of the table with a win this weekend.

Meanwhile, following weeks of mediocre results, Casa Pia made it a cheerful end to the year, as they held Vitoria de Guimaraes to a goalless draw at the Estadio Municipal de Rio Maior last Sunday.

Off the back of snapping a run of nine consecutive league matches without a win with a 2-1 comeback victory over Tondela on December 21, Os Gansos turned in a defensive show of class to extend their unbeaten home streak to four games against Guimaraes.

While it was two more points dropped, last weekend’s stalemate was another sign of progress under 39-year-old head coach Goncalo Brandao, as Casa Pia closed out the year unbeaten in their final three outings, having managed just three points from the eight matches preceding this run.

This timely resurgence has pushed the Lisbon outfit out of the danger zone heading into the business half of the campaign, leaving them 15th in the Primeira Liga standings, albeit only level on points with Arouca in the relegation playoff spot.

Victory on Sunday takes Casa Pia level on points with this weekend’s hosts in 11th place, but they will need to be at their best at the Estadio dos Arcos, where they have failed to win their last four visits, losing twice and claiming two draws since May 2022.

Rio Ave Primeira Liga form:

Casa Pia Primeira Liga form:

Casa Pia form (all competitions):

Team News

Rio Ave remain without the services of English defender Omar Richards, who has been out of action since sustaining a knee injury back in September.

He is joined in the club’s injury table by 20-year-old midfielder Theofanis Bakoulas, who picked up a knee problem while on international duty with the Greek Under-21 side in September.

As for Casa Pia, they will take to the pitch without the services of 27-year-old Kiki Silva and Spanish forward Max Svensson, who have been sidelined through knee and muscle injuries respectively.

Brazilian defender Kaique Rocha has missed each of the last five matches through a muscle injury and the 24-year-old is also out of contention for Os Gansos.

Fellow defender Duplexe Tchamba is also set to sit out his third consecutive game after coming off injured midway through the first half against Torrense on December 17.

Rio Ave possible starting lineup:

Miszta; Petrasso, Brabec, Abbey; Tome, Ntoi, Liavas, Athanasiou; Spikic, Zoabi, Pohlmann

Casa Pia possible starting lineup:

Sequeira; Geraldes, Fonte, Sousa; Larrazabal, Brito, Nhaga, Conte; Oukili, Livramento, Livolant

We say: Rio Ave 2-1 Casa Pia

Despite their recent slump in form, Rio Ave could return to the top half of the table with a win this weekend, and we expect them to leave everything on the line at the Estadio dos Arcos as they look to flip the script.

Casa Pia head into Sunday’s game in resurgent form, but we predict that Sylaidopoulos’s men will extend their solid home record in this fixture with a hard-fought victory.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.