Preview: Santa Clara vs Famalicao - prediction, team news, lineups

Santa Clara and Famalicao will both be looking to pick up their first win of the year when they lock horns at the Estadio de Sao Miguel in round 18 of the Portuguese Primeira Liga on Sunday.

The two sides could do well with a win this weekend, with the Azoreans failing to taste victory in their last five matches while Hugo Oliveira’s men head into the game on a run of four consecutive defeats across all competitions.

Match preview

After a solid first half of the season put Famalicao firmly in the race for European football, their form has tailed off in the festive period, with the Vila Nova losing each of their four matches since a 4-0 victory over Estoril Praia on December 14.

Respective cup-and-league defeats against strongholds Porto and Benfica was followed by a somewhat disappointing 3-2 home loss against Estrela Amadora on December 27, before kicking off the new year with a 1-0 loss at Alverca on January 4.

Famalicao were left spitting feathers at the Complexo Desportivo FC Alverca, as they squandered a plethora of clear-cut scoring opportunities before Chiquinho converted his 95th-minute penalty to hand Alverca all three points.

The Braga outfit lost just one of their first 10 Primeira Liga games, claiming 19 points from a possible 30, but a run of just four points from the subsequent seven games has seen head coach Oliveira come under immense pressure.

Despite their recent struggles, Famalicao could rekindle their European qualification dreams this weekend, as they sit just five points off fourth-placed Gil Vicente in the Primeira Liga table, having picked up 23 points from their 17 matches so far.

© Iconsport

Like the visitors, Santa Clara have kicked off the business end of the season on a relatively sour note, with Vasco Matos’s men failing to taste victory in any of their five matches since scraping a 1-0 win over Casa Pia on December 6.

However, Matos will hope his side can take the positives and build on the momentum from their result last Saturday, when they fought back from behind to salvage a 3-3 draw against Nacional at the Estadio da Madeira.

Santa Clara looked on course for a fourth defeat in five games after letting a two-goal lead slip away, with Jesus Ramirez netting a hat-trick to drag Nacional into the lead, but substitute Elias Manoel struck in the fifth minute of stoppage time to force a share of the spoils.

The Azoreans head into the weekend with just one win from their last eight Primeira Liga matches, losing four and claiming three draws, a run which has seen them drop into 14th place in the league table, level on 17 points with Nacional and just three points above the bottom three.

While Santa Clara will be looking to find their feet this weekend and pull clear of the danger zone, next up is the challenge of an opposing side who are unbeaten in seven of their most recent 10 encounters, claiming six wins and one draw since January 2021.

Santa Clara Primeira Liga form:

Santa Clara form (all competitions):

Famalicao Primeira Liga form:

Famalicao form (all competitions):

Team News

Santa Clara will take to the pitch without the services of 29-year-old defender Sandro Lima, who is currently suspended after crossing the yellow card threshold with his booking against Nacional last weekend.

On the injury front, fellow defender Matheus Araujo has missed the last two games since coming off injured against Arouca on December 21, and the 24-year-old will play no part in Sunday’s tie.

Pedro Pacheco continues his long journey to full fitness since sustaining a cruciate ligament injury in August and the 28-year-old is also out of contention for this weekend’s hosts.

As for Famalicao, Spanish midfielder Gonzalo Pastor is yet to feature this season due to a knee problem, while fellow countryman Oscar Aranda continues his lengthy spell on the sidelines through a cruciate ligament injury.

They are joined on the club’s injury table by 30-year-old midfielder Rochinha, who has also been out of action since picking up an injury in October.

Santa Clara possible starting lineup:

Batista; Lima, Rocha, Silva; Soares, Serginho, Klismahn, Ferreira, Victor; G Silva, Lopes

Famalicao possible starting lineup:

Carevic; Pinheiro, De Haas, Realpe, Soares; Amorim, Van de Looi; Joujou, Sa, Sorriso; Zabiri

We say: Santa Clara 1-2 Famalicao

After weeks of mediocre results, Santa Clara and Famalicao will be keen to find their feet on Sunday and get off and running in the second half of the season.

Outside of their recent struggles, the Vila Nova have been rock-solid on their travels this season, and while both sides are closely matched on paper, we fancy them to come away with the desired result.

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