Vitoria de Guimaraes continue their quest for European football when they square off against Vizela at the Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques on Sunday.
Having suffered a disappointing loss to bottom dwellers Pacos de Ferreira last time out, the Vizelenses have gone three consecutive games without a win and will be looking to end this dry spell.
Match preview
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After a rough few weeks, Vitoria de Guimaraes rekindled their race for a place in Europe as they picked up a 2-1 victory over Maritimo last Saturday.
Joao Teixeira's men knew that they had to be at their best against a Maritimo side who were aiming to pick up a third consecutive home win and pull clear of the automatic relegation places.
Tiago Silva and Andre Silva scored in either half to put Vitoria de Guimaraes in a commanding lead at the Estadio do Maritimo before Geny Catamo pulled one back for the hosts with three minutes left to play.
Os Vimaranenses were previously on a six-match winless run, picking up just one point from a possible 18 while scoring three goals and shipping 13 times in that time.
Vitoria de Guimaraes have now picked up 44 points from 30 matches to sit sixth in the Primeira Liga standings, four points off the Europa Conference League qualifying places with four games left to play.
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Elsewhere, Vizela suffered consecutive league defeats for the first time since September as they were beaten 2-1 by relegation-threatened Pacos de Ferreira last Saturday.
Needing a win to keep their survival hopes alive, the Pacenses flew out of the blocks, netting twice inside the opening 33 minutes through Nicolas Gaitan and Paulo Bernardo before Matias Lacava halved the deficit in the 77th minute.
Prior to that, Vizela saw their four-game unbeaten run come to an end on April 23 when they fell to a 1-0 loss against Aroca courtesy of Morlaye Sylla's 12th-minute penalty at the Estadio Municipal de Arouca.
With 39 points from 30 matches, Manuel Tulipa's men are currently 10th in the league standings, but victory this weekend could see them move level on points with seventh-placed Famalicao.
However, the Vizelenses journey to the Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques, where they have lost each of their last three visits, scoring twice and conceding eight goals since July 2021.
Team News
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Andre Silva turned in another fine display in Vitoria de Guimaraes' victory over Maritimo and the 25-year-old, who has four goal involvements in his last seven matches, should spearhead the attack once again.
He should be joined in the final third by Celtic loanee Michael Johnston and 23-year-old Jota Silva, while Tomas Handel and Tiago Silva should retain their roles at the centre of the park.
Mamadou Tounkara, Ibrahima Bamba and Mikel Villanueva have started Os Vimaranenses' last two matches and should form the back three again, shielding former Benfica goalkeeper Bruno Varela between the sticks.
On the injury front, Teixeira will be unable to call upon the services of Portuguese defender Fonseca Amaro, who has been sidelined since March through a muscle problem.
Vizela will be without experienced full-back Kiki Afonso, who is suspended for one match after crossing the yellow card threshold with his booking in the loss to Pacos de Ferreira.
In his absence, 22-year-old Matheus Pereira should come into the starting XI, forming the back four with Anderson, Ivanildo Fernandes and Igor Juliao.
Vitoria de Guimaraes possible starting lineup:
Varela; Tounkara, Bamba, Villanueva; Maga, Handel, Silva, Freitas; Silva, Johnston, Silva
Vizela possible starting lineup:
Buntic; Juliao, Fernandes, Anderson, Pereira; Claudemir; Guzzo; Mendez, Samu, Bondoso; Etim
We say: Vitoria de Guimaraes 2-1 Vizela
Buoyed by their victory over Maritimo, Teixeira's men will head into the weekend with renewed belief as they look to rekindle their race for a spot in Europe. While Vizela have the firepower in their ranks, they have struggled to get going in recent weeks and we predict that Vitoria de Guimaraes will do just enough to come away victorious.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
