In the third round of fixtures of the new Portuguese Primeira Liga season, Estrela Amadora will play host to Estoril Praia on Friday.

The home side will search for their first points of the term after winning promotion to the top flight, while their visitors scored a first victory of the campaign last time out after an opening-day defeat of their own.

Match preview

After beating Maritimo in the promotion playoff in Portugal's second tier last season, Estrela Amadora headed into the Primeira Liga for the first time in their history this term, with the aim of establishing themselves in the top flight under the management of Sergio Vieira.

It has not been the ideal start to the season for the Tricolores, though, as they are yet to pick up a point from their opening two games, albeit with a difficult opening schedule after their early exit from the Taca da Liga at the hands of Portimonense, having firstly met Vitoria de Guimaraes on the opening day and lost 1-0 following Joao Silva's 24th-minute goal, after Vieira's side were reduced to 10 men with Miguel Lopes sent off inside 20 minutes.

On the back of that losing start, Estrela Amadora then faced the unenviable test of a trip to defending champions Benfica last weekend, and they stood strong to keep the contest goalless past the interval and the hour mark at the Estadio da Luz.

Their resistance was eventually broken 11 minutes from time, as Casper Tengstedt put the Portuguese giants ahead, before Rafa Silva wrapped up a 2-0 home victory in injury time.

While they will be disappointed to have not earned a point yet, Vieira's side can certainly take encouragement from their start, and the resolute display against Benfica, and they will now look to turn that into a positive result on Friday and put their first three points of the campaign on the board on home turf.

They welcome an Estoril Praia side who came into their third consecutive top-flight campaign with the aim of improving on last season's somewhat disappointing 14th-placed finish, and their first competitive action also came in the Taca da Liga, as they hosted Pacos de Ferreira in the first round and advanced with a 2-0 victory courtesy of goals from Joao Marques and Cassiano.

The Canarinhos continued to build momentum and booked their place in the third round with a 5-1 thrashing of Belenenses, courtesy of goals from Rodrigo Martins, Tiago Araujo and Volnei Feltes alongside Joao Carlos's brace, before travelling to Arouca for an eventful Primeira Liga curtain-raiser.

Alvaro Pacheco's side went ahead on three separate occasions in that contest through Jordan Holsgrove, Joao Marques and Alejandro Marques, but they were pegged back each time, before being cruelly denied even a share of the points deep into injury time, as Pedro Santos popped up with a 96th-minute winner for the hosts, who came out on top despite being reduced to 10 men in the first half.

On the back of that disappointment, Estoril Praia then hosted Rio Ave last Sunday and quickly put their first points on the board, coming away with a 2-0 victory as Eliaquim Mangala opened the scoring early in the second half and Alejandro Marques added a second in injury time.

Having quickly bounced back from their opening-day setback, and following their impressive early cup exploits, Pacheco's men should have some confidence in the camp and will aim to make it back-to-back three-point hauls when they travel to the newly-promoted Tricolores on Friday.

Team News

Estrela Amadora switched to a more cautious approach for their trip to Benfica after their opening meeting with Vitoria de Guimaraes, and they could revert to a slightly more positive setup on Friday, with Vieira expected to deploy a 3-4-3 shape.

Miguel Lopes will return to contention in defence, after he was suspended last time out following the opening-day red card, although he will have to fight for his place back, after Johnstone Omurwa came in and played an important role alongside Kialonda Gaspar and Mansur in the resolute display against Benfica.

Ronaldo Tavares should again lead the line, having opened his account for the season in their Taca da Liga defeat to Portimonense after helping them to promotion with seven goals in 23 league appearances last term, while Gremio Anapolis loanee Ronald will look to cause problems from the right wing with either Leo Jaba or Regis Ndo lining up on the opposite flank.

Alvaro Pacheco will deploy a similar Estoril Praia starting XI from their 2-0 win over Rio Ave last time out, although forward Alejandro Marques does certainly have a claim to come in and start up front having scored off the bench in both of their first two league outings this term.

He will hope to displace Cassiano, while Rafik Guitane, Joao Marques and Heriberto Tavares could again form a supporting trio behind the lone striker in a 4-2-3-1 shape, if the latter is deemed fit after being withdrawn in the first half last time out.

Ivan Pavlic was also taken off in the first half and will hope to be fit in time to rejoin Olympiacos loanee Jordan Holsgrove in the engine room, while Bernardo Vital should again partner up alongside former Manchester City man Eliaquim Mangala at the heart of the back four.

Estrela Amadora possible starting lineup:
Bruno; Gaspar, Lopes, Mansur; Hevertton, Vito, Cordeiro, Reis; Ndo, Tavares, Ronald

Estoril Praia possible starting lineup:
Figueira; Feltes, Vital, Mangala, Araujo; Pavlic, Holsgrove; Guitane, Marques, Gomes; Marques

We say: Estrela Amadora 0-1 Estoril Praia

Estrela Amadora certainly have reason to be positive despite their losing start, having only fallen to Vitoria de Guimaraes after an early red card and only conceded two late goals to Benfica, but Estoril Praia will travel with confidence and should see Friday's game as a great opportunity for back-to-back wins.

We expect the hosts to be resolute again but do not quite see them standing strong throughout to earn a clean sheet, while they are yet to show much threat at the other end of the pitch to bother Pacheco's men.


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

Written by
Sam Varley

Previews by email