Fresh off the back of a stunning victory over league leaders Benfica, Chaves take a trip to the Estadio de Sao Miguel to face Santa Clara in round 29 of the Primeira Liga on Sunday.
Danildo Accioly's side, who are currently on a run of nine consecutive defeats, will be looking to stop the rot and kickstart their surge from the automatic relegation places.
Match preview
© Reuters
Santa Clara were no match for league heavyweights Porto as they fell to a 2-1 defeat against Sergio Conceicao's men at the Estadio do Dragao last Saturday.
Mateus Uribe and Danny Namaso scored on either side of the interval to set the hosts on their way to all three points before substitute Kyosuke Tagawa pulled one back in the second minute of stoppage time.
Accioly's men have now lost each of their last nine outings, conceding 19 goals and scoring just four since coming from behind twice to salvage a 2-2 draw against Boavista on February 4.
With their defeat to Porto, Os Acoreanos have also gone 19 consecutive games without a win, losing 16 and claiming three draws since November's 3-1 victory over Estoril Praia just before the 2022 World Cup.
Santa Clara have picked up just three wins, while losing 19 of their 28 games so far to collect 15 points and sit rooted to the bottom of the Primeira Liga table, seven points off 16th-placed Maritimo in the relegation playoff spot.
© Reuters
Chaves, on the other hand, threw a spanner into the works for Benfica as they claimed a 1-0 victory over the league leaders when the sides squared off last weekend.
Despite being on the back foot for most of the game, Issah Abass left it late at the Estadio Municipal Eng. Manuel Branco Teixeira as he struck a dramatic 94th-minute winner to hand As Aguias a second straight league debate and cut their lead at the top of the table to four points.
Prior to that, Vitor Campelos's side saw their two-match winning streak come to an end on April 2 courtesy of a 2-1 loss against Braga, eight days before holding out for a goalless draw with Gil Vicente at the Estadio Cidade de Barcelos.
With six games remaining before the 2022-23 league campaign draws to a close, Chaves have picked up 36 points from 28 games so far to sit 10th in the league standings, nine points off the Europa Conference League qualification places.
While the Flavienses will be looking to make it two back-to-back victories, they have struggled on the road, where they have managed just one win in their seven outings since the turn of the year.
Team News
© Reuters
Santa Clara will have to make do without Brazilian winger Allano, who will serve a one-match suspension after picking up his 10th yellow card of the season against Porto.
In his absence, Palmeiras loanee Gabriel Silva, who has five goals and one assist this season, should come into the XI, forming the front three with Ricardinho and Matheus Babi.
On the injury front, Marco Rocha and Tomas Domingos are out of contention for Os Acoreanos as they are currently battling hamstring and knee injuries respectively.
Meanwhile, Chaves remain without Portuguese youngster Eduardo Borges, who has been ruled out since picking up a knee injury in November's game against Casa Pia.
Nwankwo Obioro has also been sidelined since January while Spanish midfielder Jonathan Arriba has missed 11 consecutive matches through a muscle injury.
Twenty-eight-year-old left-back Euller picked up his fifth yellow card of the season in Friday's win over Benfica and is ruled out of the trip to the Estadio de Sao Miguel.
Santa Clara possible starting lineup:
Batista; Sagna, Nogueira, Boateng, Fagundes; Costinha, Firmino, Jordao; Silva, Ricardinho, Babi
Chaves possible starting lineup:
Fagundes; Monte, Vitoria, Ponck, Langa; Teixeira, Mendes, Guimaraes; Benny, Juninho, Correia
We say: Santa Clara 0-2 Chaves
Buoyed by their victory over Benfica, Chaves will head into the weekend with sky-high confidence as they look to rekindle their race for a spot in Europe. We are backing the Flavienses to pick up from where they dropped off last time out and see off a Santa Clara side whose current form is nothing to write home about.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
