SC Farense and Moreirense will get their second successive Primeira Liga season underway this weekend when they face off at Estadio de Sao Luis on Sunday evening.
The hosts ended last season in 10th place with 37 points, while the visitors finished in a very impressive sixth spot with 55 points in their 34 top-flight matches.
Match preview
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Farense can be well proud of their performance last term, as they managed to successfully navigate their first season back in the top flight and secured a comfortable mid-table finish.
Additionally, with 10 wins and seven draws to their names, their 37-point tally was better than what Gil Vicente and Estoril Praia managed, and was also just one less than Casa Pia's 38, which was good enough for the final spot in the top half of the table.
Of that, 22 points (W6 D4 L7) were earned here at Estadio de Sao Luis, which is something that the side will look to improve this season as they look to pull closer to the top six.
Jose Mota, who joined the club midway through the season, ended the campaign with a record of two wins and three losses in his team's final five fixtures, and wrapped up the pre-season with a win over Maritimo and a goalless draw against Portimonense last week.
The Farense boss will now look to build on that form in this match, as his side lost home and away to this opponent last season, both times by a scoreline of 1-0.
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Meanwhile, Moreirense's first season in the top flight could arguably not have gone any better than it did, as they claimed a top-six finish and were seven points clear of Arouca in seventh place.
Os Verdes e Brancos were even in the European qualification conversation for a large chunk of the season until a run of four matches without victory between March and mid-April saw those hopes fade away.
Still, Rui Borges's side rallied excellently over the run-in and ended the season with four consecutive wins over Portimonense, Vizela, Casa Pia and Estoril, while only conceding a single goal during that period.
However, Borges departed Moreirense at the end of last season, and the club have now tasked a familiar face in Cesar Peixoto, who spent last season at Pacos Ferreira, to move them forward this term.
Since his arrival, Peixoto has overseen seven pre-season fixtures and delivered a few notable results, including wins over Braga and Rio Ave, while the only defeat they conceded in that time was against Famalicao earlier this month.
Team News
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Luiz Felipe spent the end of last season sidelined with an injury, but Farense have brought in Kaique Pereira from Palmeiras and he will compete with Ricardo Velho for the spot between the sticks.
Mota also acquired the services of Tomane from APOEL Nicosia over the summer and he is expected to make his debut this weekend in attack with the support of Rafael Barbosa.
Alhassane Sylla missed the entire of last season with an ACL injury and is set to miss the first few weeks of this season as well as he continues the final stages of his recovery.
Moreirense have had a fairly quiet transfer window, though they have signed Benny on a free transfer and he could partner the likes of Alanzinho and Madson in the visitors' engine room.
SC Farense possible starting lineup:
Velho; Jorge, Africo, Moreno, Talocha; Neto, Falcao; Matias, Barbosa, Belloumi; Tomane
Moreirense possible starting lineup:
Kewin; Fabiano, Maracas, Ponck, Frimpong; Tavares, Ofori; Madson, Alanzinho, Antonisse; Asue
We say: SC Farense 1-1 Moreirense
Moreirense won this fixture home and away last season, but Farense have had a solid pre-season and are arguably slightly more settled given that the visitors have a new manager at the helm.
Both these sides would love the win here but will also want to avoid an opening-match defeat, and we feel they will be fairly content to share the spoils.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
