Vitoria de Guimaraes vs Santa Clara - prediction, team news, lineups

Two sides level on points go head-to-head in round eight of the Portuguese Primeira Liga as Vitoria de Guimaraes play host to Santa Clara on Saturday.

The Azoreans journey to the Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques, where they have failed to taste victory in any of their last six visits in the league (1D 5L) since November 2018 and will be looking to end this poor seven-year run.

Match preview

With just two wins on the board, it has been a difficult start to the campaign for Vitoria de Guimaraes, who already find themselves 13 points off the top of the table and seven behind the top-four places after the opening seven matches.

Os Vimaranenses’ struggles were highlighted last Sunday when they fell to a somewhat disappointing 2-0 defeat against newcomers Alverca at the Complexo Desportivo FC Alverca despite playing the entire second half with a man advantage.

Despite going one man down in the first half after Sabit Abdulai received his marching orders, Alverca held their own to see out a second consecutive home victory courtesy of goals from Marko Milovanovic and substitute Sandro Lima.

Vitoria de Guimaraes have lost three of their seven games so far, conceding seven goals and failing to find the back of the net in those three games, while picking up victories over Estoril Praia and Estrela Amadora.

However, with each of their three defeats coming on the road, Luis Pinto’s men will be backing themselves to come away with something this weekend as they return home, where they have picked up one win and two draws in three games so far.

Vitoria de Guimaraes have picked up eight points from a possible 21 to sit ninth in the Primeira Liga standings, level on points with 10th-placed Arouca and this weekend’s visitors in eighth place.

While they looked to have picked up the pace in recent weeks, Santa Clara were sent crashing back down to earth last Saturday when they fell to a 2-1 defeat against newly-promoted Tondela at the Estadio de Sao Miguel.

Following a relatively uneventful first half, Pedro Henryque made up for his 50th-minute missed penalty as he netted right on the hour mark to put Tondela in front, and after Sphephelo Sithole struck three minutes later to put the visitors in the driver’s seat, Wendel Silva pulled one back for Santa Clara in the 76th minute.

Prior to that, the Azoreans were on a run of four consecutive Primeira Liga games without defeat, picking up two wins and two draws, having kicked off the league campaign with back-to-back defeats against Famalicao and Moreirense in August.

Following last Saturday’s result, Vasco Matos’s men have now failed to win eight of their 10 matches across all competitions (D4 L4), a run which saw them miss out on European football following a 2-1 aggregate defeat against Irish outfit Shamrock Rovers in the UEFA Conference League playoffs in August.

While Santa Clara will be looking to bounce back this weekend, they are up against the challenge of an opposing side, who are unbeaten in eight of their last 11 encounters, picking up six wins and two draws since January 2020.

Vitoria de Guimaraes Primeira Liga form:

Santa Clara Primeira Liga form:

Santa Clara form (all competitions):

Team News

Guimaraes will have to cope without the services of Gustavo Silva, who missed the clash against Alverca last time out after sustaining a game-ending injury midway through the second half against Braga on September 20.

In his absence, Belgian prodigy Noah Saviolo was handed his first start of the campaign against Alverca and the 21-year-old should retain his role in the front three, teaming up with Telmo Arcanjo and veteran striker Nelson Oliveira.

As for Santa Clara, they remain without the services of 28-year-old defender Pedro Pacheco, who continues his long road to full fitness, having recently recovered from a severe knee injury.

Other than that, the Azoreans head into the weekend with a clean bill of health and no suspension concerns, giving head coach Matos the luxury of a relatively full-strength squad to select from.

Wendel Silva opened his league account for the season with his strike against Tondela last time out and the Brazilian striker will push for a starting role, which will see summer signing Anthony Carter sweat over his place in the XI.

Vitoria de Guimaraes possible starting lineup:

Castillo; Maga, Rivas, Abascal, Mendes; Beni, Mitrovic, Nogueira; Arcanjo, Saviolo, Oliveira

Santa Clara possible starting lineup:

Batista; Lima, Venancio, Nunes; Soares, Araujo, Adriano, Calila; Luquinhas, W Silva, Pereira

We say: Vitoria de Guimaraes 2-1 Santa Clara

It has been a slow start to the season for Vitoria de Guimaraes and Santa Clara, who will both head into the weekend keen on picking up a morale-boosting result and kickstarting a strong run of form.

While Os Vimaranenses have struggled to get results on their travels, they have been tough to crack in front of their home supporters and we are backing them to extend their dominant home record in this fixture with another victory.

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