Casa Pia will be looking to pick up their first home win since February when they welcome Chaves to the Estadio Pina Manique in round 31 of the Primeira Liga on Saturday.
The Flavienses head into the weekend knowing that they have just four games to salvage their season as they find themselves languishing in the relegation zone, six points away from safety.
Match preview
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Casa Pia were sent crashing back down to earth last Sunday as they fell to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Porto despite their valiant display in front of their home supporters.
After falling behind to Wanderson Galeno's 31st-minute opener, Casa Pia upped the ante as Nuno Moreira restored parity in the 37th minute, but Nico Gonzalez scored in the 56th minute to hand the Dragoes all three points.
Prior to that, Goncalo Santos' men snapped their two-game losing streak on March 31 courtesy of a resounding 4-0 victory at Vizela before playing out consecutive stalemates with Estoril Praia and Portimonense respectively.
Casa Pia have now lost 14 of their 30 Primeira Liga matches so far while claiming eight wins and eight draws to collect 32 points and sit ninth in the league table, one point above 10th-placed Farense.
While Os Gansos will be looking to return to winning ways, home has not exactly been where their heart is as they have picked up just two points from their most recent four games at the Estadio Pina Manique and managed just one win in their last nine matches since December.
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Chaves, on the other hand, picked up a potentially-vital point in their battle for survival as they fought back from behind to salvage a 1-1 draw with Estoril Praia at the Estadio Municipal Eng. Manuel Branco Teixeira last Sunday.
In a heated affair where Marcelo Carne and Pedro Alvaro picked up red cards, Joao Basso and Fabricio Andrade scored second-half goals to cancel out Joao Correia's 32nd-minute opener, but Helder Morim struck late into stoppage time to force a share of the spoils.
This followed a much-needed 1-0 victory over Vizela at the Estadio do FC Vizela on April 15 — a result which saw their run of six back-to-back games without a win come to an end.
Having secured a seventh-placed finish last season, Joao Teixeira's side find themselves languishing in the relegation zone heading into this season's run-in having picked up 23 points from 30 games to sit 17th in the league table.
Chaves' underwhelming campaign has been in no small part owing to their struggles at the attacking end of the pitch, where they have scored the second-fewest number of goals so far (30) — only Vizela (29) have shipped more goals this season.
Team News
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Casa Pia will take to the pitch without the services of midfielder Rafael Brito, who has been out of action since coming off with a muscle injury against Gil Vicente on March 3.
Beni Mukendi missed last Sunday's game against Porto due to a one-game suspension after picking up a late red card against Portimonense on April 14 but the 21-year-old should return to the fold this weekend.
Portuguese defender Sandro Cruz came off injured in the game against Estrela Amadora on February 24 and the 22-year-old remains out of contention for Chaves.
As for Chaves, South African midfielder Thibang Phete has been out of action since sustaining an injury against Boavista on February 17 and will play no part in Saturday's game.
Fellow midfielder Ricardo Guimaraes is also set to sit out his third consecutive game after coming off injured following the 3-2 defeat against Portimonense on April 7.
With his strike against Vitoria de Guimaraes, Hernandez now has 13 Primeira Liga goals this season and we expect the Spanish striker to spearhead Chaves' attack once again.
The front three of Joao Correia, Ruben Ribeiro and Spanish striker Hector Hernandez, who has 14 league goals this season, has started the visitors' last two matches and should retain their roles in the XI this weekend.
Casa Pia possible starting lineup:
Batista; Tchamba, Zolotic, Nunes; Larrazabal, Neto, Segovia, Lelo; Soma, Cardoso, Moreira
Chaves possible starting lineup:
Souza; Nogueira, Fernandes, Pius; Nwakali, Guzzo, Essugo, Carraca; Correia, Ribeiro, Hernandez
We say: Casa Pia 1-2 Chaves
The last four meetings between Casa Pia and Chaves have produced a combined 13 goals and we anticipate another action-packed contest this weekend. Having picked up four points from their last two games, Chaves visit the Estadio Pina Monique with renewed confidence and we are backing them to claim a narrow win.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
