Preview: Rio Ave vs Santa Clara - prediction, team news, lineups

Seeking to continue from where they left off in the Taca de Portugal, Santa Clara journey to the Estadio dos Arcos to face Rio Ave in round 12 of the Portuguese Primeira Liga on Sunday.

While Santa Clara made light work of Comercio e Industria to reach the cup round-of-16, Sotiris Sylaidopoulos’s men were held to a 1-1 draw by Alverca last time out and will head into the weekend in search of a pick-me-up.

Match preview

What seemed like a resurgent spell has started to unravel for Rio Ave, who have managed just one point from the last six available after being held to a stalemate by Alverca on November 8.

Clayton broke the deadlock five minutes after the half-hour mark to put Rio Ave in the driver’s seat at the Complexo Desportivo FC Alverca, but substitute Sandro Lima hit back for Alverca in the 77th minute to force a share of the spoils.

Prior to that, Sylaidopoulos’s men edged out Tondela and Estrela Amadora to secure back-to-back league victories for the first time since November 2024, ending a nine-game winless run in the process, before crashing down to earth in a 4-0 defeat against Estoril Praia on November 1.

The result against Alverca leaves Rio Ave with just two Primeira Liga victories this season, as they sit 11th in the league table with 12 points from 11 matches, one point and one spot above this weekend’s visitors.

After weeks of mediocre results, Santa Clara finally gave their fans something to cheer for last Sunday when they cruised to a 3-0 home victory over Comercio e Industria in the Taca de Portugal fourth round.

In a one-sided affair at the Estadio de Sao Miguel, Wendel Silva, Vinicius Lopes and Mozambique international Diogo Calila all found the back of the net to nearly dispatch the Campeonato de Portugal outfit.

Head coach Vasco Matos will hope that the cup victory can inspire a much-needed turnaround in the Primeira Liga, where they could drop into the relegation zone this weekend, having lost four of their most recent five matches.

Central to Santa Clara’s slow start to the campaign has been struggles in front of goal, an area that they must improve upon sooner rather than later if they are to pull clear of the danger zone.

Os Acoreanos have netted just nine goals in the league this season, the division’s worst attacking record after bottom-dwellers AVS (8) and Tondela (6), while conceding 13 at the opposite end of the pitch.

However, Santa Clara now go up against a Rio Ave side, who they hold a slight upper hand against across their most recent 10 encounters, having picked up four wins and three draws since September 2018.

Rio Ave Primeira Liga form:

Rio Ave form (all competitions):

Santa Clara Primeira Liga form:

Santa Clara form (all competitions):

Team News

Rio Ave remain without the services of 20-year-old midfielder Theofanis Bakoulas, who has missed each of the last nine matches since sustaining a knee injury back in September.

English defender Omar Richards has been sidelined since coming off injured against Famalicao on September 28, and the 27-year-old is set to sit out his sixth consecutive game.

Clayton has a bright spark in what has been a dull campaign for Rio Ave, and the 26-year-old forward, who boasts seven goals and two assists in the league, will be one to keep an eye on this weekend.

As for Santa Clara, Pedro Pacheco continues his lengthy spell on the sidelines due to a cruciate ligament injury, and the 28-year-old defender is ruled out of the trip to the Estadio dos Arcos.

With his strike in last weekend’s cup victory, Lopes now has four goals in the last six matches across all competitions, and we expect the Brazilian striker to spearhead the Os Acoreanos’ attack once again.

Rio Ave possible starting lineup:

Chamorro; Petrasso, Brabec, Abbey; Vrousai, Ntoi, Aguilera, Athanasiou; Luiz, Clayton, Pohlmann

Santa Clara possible starting lineup:

Batista; Rocha, Venancio, Pereira; Soares, Lucas, Ferreira, Araujo, Victor; Lopes, Wendel

We say: Rio Ave 1-1 Santa Clara

While Rio Ave and Santa Clara have struggled to find their feet in the new campaign, victory here could serve as a catalyst for an upturn in form, and we expect both sides to go all out this weekend. However, we predict that they will cancel out each other’s efforts at the Estadio dos Arcos and settle for a share of the spoils.

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