Gil Vicente and Riga FC continue their quest for a place in the Europa Conference League as they lock horns in the second leg of the third round of qualifiers on Thursday.
Both sides will head into the game seeking an aggregate victory and a place in the next qualifying round after the spoils were shared in a 1-1 draw when they met in last week's reverse leg.
Match preview
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Gil Vicente got their 2022-23 Portuguese Primeira Liga campaign off to a flying start as they claimed a 1-0 victory over Pacos de Ferreira last weekend.
Following a drab first half at the Estadio Cidade de Barcelos, 26-year-old Ali Alipour forward made an immediate impact after coming off the bench as he struck in the 85th minute to condemn the visitors to an opening-day defeat.
Prior to that, Gil Vicente enjoyed a solid pre-season campaign before holding out for a 1-1 draw with Riga FC at the Skonto Stadium in the first leg of their Conference League qualifying clash.
Ivo Vieira's side are now unbeaten in each of their last four games across all competitions, picking up two wins and two draws while scoring five goals and conceding twice since May's 5-0 loss against Vitoria de Guimaraes.
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Riga FC, on the other hand, continue to surge up the Virsliga standings as they claimed a hard-fought 3-2 home victory over FK Metta when the sides squared off last Saturday.
With the scores level at the interval, Yuri Kendysh struck in the 76th minute to put the hosts 2-1 up, and after 19-year-old Jean Armel Zambgala restored parity for the second time in the game, substitute Marcelo Torres netted with nine minutes left in the game to see off the visitors.
Sandro Perkovic's side have now won each of their last three games in the Latvian top flight, where they are currently third in the table, 10 points adrift of Valmiera FC at the top of the pile.
Riga will now look to build on Saturday's victory as they turn their attention to the Conference League qualifiers where they are currently on a fine run of four wins and one draw from five games while scoring 10 goals and keeping three clean sheets so far.
However, they face the stern test of taking on Gil Vicente, who have lost just one competitive game at the Estadio Cidade de Barcelos in 2022, claiming five wins and four draws in nine outings since the turn of the year.
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Team News
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Gil Vicente will have to cope with the absence of former Zenit St. Petersburg goalkeeper Stanislav Kritsyuk, who has been out of action since last November through a knee injury.
Another long-term absentee for the Gilistas is 27-year-old Brazilian Murilo de Souza, who sustained an ACL injury in January's Primeira Liga game against Boavista.
Alipour, who netted seven league goals last season, staked his claim for a starting role with his impressive cameo at the weekend and the Iranian forward should come into the fold on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Riga will take to the pitch without the services of Ghana international Baba Musah, who is set to sit out his 10th straight game through a muscle injury.
Off the back of a fine attacking display against Metta at the weekend, Perkovic could name a similar front line of Olabanjo Ogunji, Joselpho Barnes and Kendysh all behind striker Gabriel Penha.
Gil Vicente possible starting lineup:
Andrew; Veiga, Cunha, Fernandes, Gomes; Carvalho, Fujimoto, Tiba; Boselli, Navarro, Arai
Riga FC possible starting lineup:
Purins; Jurkovskis, Dulanto, Bergqvist, Muzinga; Babec; Ogunji, Aurelio, Kendysh, Soisalo; Penha
We say: Gil Vicente 2-1 Riga FC
Looking at thet recent results of Gil Vicente and Riga FC, we expect another end-to-end affair with both sides taking the game to each other. The Gilistas will be counting on the home fans to roar them on and we predict they will take this to their advantage and come away with a slender victory.
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