Saturday's action in the Primeira Liga will kick off with a crucial relegation battle as Rio Ave prepare to take on Vizela at Estadio do Rio Ave Futebol Clube in Vila do Conde.
The hosts head into this encounter in 15th place in the league standings with 11 points after 13 matches, while the visitors are at the bottom of the log and one point behind their opponents.
Match preview
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After a 2-0 win over Chaves on the opening weekend of the league season, Rio Ave endured a painful run of eight matches without a win, including four consecutive losses between the end of September and October.
However, just before the international break, Vilacondenses notched their first victory of the season, beating Boavista 2-0 at home, and that seemed to have injected some much-needed life back into the squad.
Since that win, Luis Freire's side have been notably better in the league, and while they are still only on two wins this season, they have taken a point in each of their last three and doubled their tally over the last four.
Rio Ave's last match ended in a 2-2 draw away to fellow relegation candidates Arouca, though they will feel that they should have taken more from that encounter, having been two goals up until the 50th minute.
Nevertheless, it was enough to take them to 11 points and moved them a point clear of the drop zone, but more importantly, it was a fourth consecutive match without defeat, which is something they have not managed since November 2022.
The hosts will know that this is probably their best chance to open up some more daylight between themselves and the bottom three and will likely go all out for the win in this one.
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Meanwhile, after making very good progress over the last two seasons, Vizela are in real danger of making the drop this term unless they manage to turn their performances around sooner rather than later.
They have fallen to the bottom of the league standings and come into this match winless in their last three, including a draw to Famalicao and losses to Chaves and, most recently, Sporting Braga last weekend.
Under the guidance of a now under-pressure Pablo Villar, Vizela have recorded two wins, four draws, and seven losses this season and are the second lowest-scoring team in the top flight with 13 goals in as many matches.
The visitors have taken five points in six away games this season, though they have only been beaten once in their last four outings, which was at the start of the month against 16th-place Chaves.
Still, despite their lowly league position, Vizela do have the quality in their ranks to turn their seasons around and will head into this match with some confidence having beaten this opponent 3-1 in their previous meeting last term.
Team News
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Rio Ave have no major injury concerns heading into this match, and considering their recent uptick in form; it would come as no surprise to see Freire opt for an unchanged lineup.
Josue Sa, Aderllan Santos and Miguel Nobrega have been decent in defence in recent weeks and should form the backline in front of Jhonatan, who seems to have fully shaken off the knock he had last month.
At the top end, Emmanuel Boateng and Andre Pereira are likely to lead the line, with Joca and Costinha providing the support from midfield.
Bruno Wilson was shown a straight red against Chaves at the start of the month and will be serving the second match of his three-game suspension in this one.
Matheus Pereira stepped in for Wilson in the last match and should keep his place at left-back this week, which will likely mean that Joao Rodrigo Escoval will move into the centre-back role alongside Anderson.
Rio Ave possible starting lineup:
Jhonatan; Sa, Santos, Nobrega; Costinha, Joca, Oudrhiri, Guga, Ronaldo; Pereira, Boateng
Vizela possible starting lineup:
Buntic; Silva, Anderson, Escoval, Pereira; Samu, Ortiz; Moreira, Nascimento, Lebedenko; Essende
We say: Rio Ave 2-1 Vizela
Both these sides have seen slight improvement in the last month, and a win here will feel like six points gained and could cause a significant reshuffle at the foot of the table. The hosts have got themselves out of the drop zone with a few good performances ahead of this match, and we feel they will be able to put on another good showing in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
