Preview: Rio Ave vs Vitoria de Guimaraes - prediction, team news, lineups

Two sides separated by just two points in the mid-tables go head to head in round 14 of the Primeira Liga as Rio Ave welcome Vitoria de Guimaraes to the Estadio dos Arcos on Saturday.

If the most recent meeting between the two teams is anything to go by, then a thrilling contest is on the cards this weekend, after Os Vimaranenses secured a 3-0 victory when they met back in April.

Match preview

While Rio Ave have been in and out of the top half of the Primeira Liga standings this season due to their struggle for consistent results, they have upped the ante in recent weeks and will be out to keep the ball rolling this weekend.

Sotiris Sylaidopoulos’s men will head into Saturday’s matchup in high spirits, having snatched a 2-1 victory over 10-man AVS when the two sides squared off at the Estadio do CD das Aves last weekend.

In a game where Jaume Grau received his marching orders, Clayton netted on either side of Oscar Perea’s 50th-minute equaliser, including a 93rd-minute winner, to fire Rio Ave to a hard-earned victory.

The Vilacondenses have now picked up three wins and two draws from their most recent six Primeira Liga games, having failed to win any of their opening seven matches to start the campaign.

This upturn in form has seen Rio Ave surge into 10th place in the Primeira Liga standings with 16 points from 13 games, two points and two places adrift of this weekend’s visitors.

Vitoria de Guimaraes were left feeling disappointed last weekend as they played out a goalless draw with Gil Vicente after fluffing several goalscoring opportunities at the Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques.

It was an uncharacteristically lacklustre display from Os Vimaranenses, who had won each of their previous four games, including a stunning 3-1 victory over Porto in their Taca da Liga quarter-final clash at the Estadio do Dragao.

Luis Pinto’s men have failed to gain a foothold in the top half of the league table due to their struggles in attack, where they have netted just 14 goals in their 13 matches — the joint-fewest tally amongst the top-10 teams.

Vitoria de Guimaraes will be backing themselves to find their feet this weekend as they welcome the challenge of an opposing side, who have failed to win six of their most recent seven encounters, losing three and claiming three draws since January 2023.

Rio Ave Primeira Liga form:

Rio Ave form (all competitions):

Vitoria de Guimaraes Primeira Liga form:

Vitoria de Guimaraes form (all competitions):

Team News

Rio Ave will have to cope without the services of Greek midfielder Andreas Ntoi, who is currently suspended after crossing the yellow card threshold with his booking against AVS last time out.

On the injury front, Rafael Lobato and Theofanis Bakoulas are recuperating from muscle and knee injuries respectively, while English defender Omar Richards has been ruled out since sustaining an injury against Famalicao in September.

With his brace against AVS, Clayton has now crossed double-digit goals in the league, scoring 10 times while setting up two goals, and the 26-year-old forward will be one to look out for this weekend.

Meanwhile, Vitoria de Guimaraes remain without the services of 26-year-old forward Gustavo Silva, who has been out of action since coming off injured against Braga in September.

He is joined on Os Vimaranenses’ injury table by 21-year-old midfielder Goncalo Nogueira, who was forced off injured midway through the game against Gil Vicente last time out.

Rio Ave possible starting lineup:

Miszta; Petrasso, Panzo, Abbey; Vrousai, Liavas, Aguilera, Athanasiou; Luiz, Clayton, Pohlmann

Vitoria de Guimaraes possible starting lineup:

Castillo; Maga, Rivas, Abascal, Mendes; Nogueira, Mukendi; Camara, Samu, Saviolo; Oliveira

We say: Rio Ave 1-1 Vitoria de Guimaraes

While Rio Ave have flipped the script in recent weeks, they will need to show their mettle against a well-drilled Vitoria de Guimaraes side, who are unbeaten in their last five matches. It is a tough one to predict between the two evenly-matched teams on paper, and we see them settling for a share of the spoils at the Estadio dos Arcos.

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