Still licking their wounds from the disappointing Taca de Portugal exit, Chaves journey to the Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques to face Vitoria de Guimaraes in round nine of the Primeira Liga on Saturday.
Os Vimaranenses have won each of their three outings across all competitions since the start of October and will head into the weekend looking to continue in the same vein.
Match preview
© Reuters
Vitoria de Guimaraes cruised through the third round of the Taca de Portugal last Sunday when they picked up a 3-1 victory over Campeonato de Portugal outfit Moncarapachense at the Estadio Algarve.
Os Vimaranenses raced into a three-goal lead inside the opening half-hour courtesy of strikes from Tomas Ribeiro, Jorge Fernandes and Jota Silva before Eduardo Silva pulled one back from the penalty spot in the 41st minute.
This was in keeping with their recent resurgence in the Primeira Liga, where they have claimed victories over Estoril Praia and Famalicao in their most recent two outings, having failed to win their previous three preceding this run.
Vitoria de Guimaraes have picked up five wins, one draw and lost two of their opening eight league matches to collect 16 points and sit fifth in the table, only below fourth-placed Braga on goal difference.
After two consecutive games on the road, Alvaro Pacheco's men now return home, where they have won five of their last six league matches, with a 2-1 loss against Portimonense on September 17 being the exception.
Chaves, on the other hand, were left spitting feathers last time out as they fell to a penalty-shootout defeat at the hands of third-tier CF Canelas in the third round of the Taca de Portugal.
With nothing to separate the sides after 120 minutes at the Estadio Clube Futebol Canelas 2010, the game went to penalties, where Pedro Miguel Lomba's men picked up a 5-3 victory.
Chaves now turn their sights to the Primeira Liga, where they have hit their stride in recent weeks, claiming their first win of the season on October 1, when they beat Arouca 2-0 at the Estadio Municipal de Arouca, one week before seeing off Gil Vicente 4-2 on home turf.
However, Joao Teixeira's men will need to show their mettle this weekend as they journey to the Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques, where they have lost each of their last four visits, conceding 11 goals and scoring just three since a 1-1 draw in December 2016.
While Chaves will be looking to end this poor run, last week's defeat means that they have now lost six of their last seven competitive away matches since May, including a shock penalty-shootout loss against Segunda Liga side AVS in the Taca da Liga qualifiers on July 22.
Team News
© Reuters
Vitoria de Guimaraes will be without experienced midfielder Tiago Silva, who will serve the first of his three-game suspension after picking up a straight red card last Sunday.
In his absence, Portuguese midfielder Daniel Silva will push for a place in the starting XI, teaming up with 22-year-old Tomas Handel in the centre of the park.
Pacheco will be unable to call upon the defensive duo of Ricardo Mangas and Mikel Villanueva, who are currently recovering from knee and foot injuries respectively.
Chaves will be without the services of veteran midfielder Ruben Ribeiro, who will serve his one-match suspension following his sending-off in the win over Gil Vicente on October 7.
On the injury front, the Flavienses will take to the pitch without 28-year-old forward Ruben Lameiras, who has missed the last five matches after picking up a knee problem back in September.
Vitoria de Guimaraes possible starting lineup:
Varela; Fernandes, J Silva, Ribeiro; Gaspar, D Silva, Handel, Freitas; Mendes, J Silva, A Silva
Chaves possible starting lineup:
Souza; Rodrigues, Vitoria, Queiros, Langa; Correia, Nwakali, Guimaraes, Victor; Sanca, Hernandez
We say: Vitoria de Guimaraes 2-1 Chaves
Vitoria de Guimaraes have put together a fine run of form in recent weeks and will fancy their chances against a Chaves side whose form on the road is currently nothing to write home about. While we expect the visitors to put up a fight, we are backing Pacheco's men to come away with all three points, albeit by the odd goal.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
