High-flying Santa Clara welcome relegation-threatened SC Farense in gameweek 17 of the 2024-25 Primeira Liga season on Sunday at the Estadio de Sao Miguel.
The promoted hosts are fourth in the table with 30 points, while the visitors occupy the relegation playoff spot with 13 points, one place above the automatic relegation zone.
Match preview
© Imago
Santa Clara snapped a three-game winless run in all competitions in their last Primeira Liga outing, with a 2-1 victory over Famalicao at the Estadio Municipal de Famalicao on December 30.
The Azoreans took the lead through Gabriel Silva's 32nd-minute penalty, and Brazilian centre-back Sidney Lima doubled their advantage in the 51st minute before Sorriso pulled one back for Fama in the 58th minute.
Before that victory away to Vila Nova, Vasco Matos's charges lost back-to-back matches in the league, falling 1-0 to Arouca and 2-0 to Sporting Braga, with the loss to the latter ending a six-match winning run at home.
However, with the Azoreans back to winning ways, they now have four wins from eight fixtures on the road this season.
Key to the magnificent showing of the hosts this term is their performance at home, a run highlighted by six wins and only two losses in eight encounters on their turf.
A win for the Azoreans will take their points haul to 33 and aid their quest to qualify for Europe next season.
Considering the near-perfect form of the hosts at home and their two-game winning streak against the visitors at the Estadio de Sao Miguel, Santa Clara will be confident of claiming yet another victory on their turf.
© Imago
SC Farense, meanwhile, played out a 2-2 draw against Vitoria Guimaraes in their last outing to remain unbeaten in two matches in all competitions at the Estadio de Sao Luis.
Trailing 2-1 with a few minutes left on the clock, the hosts were staring a sixth home loss of the season in the face, but a 98th-minute goal by Angelo Neto salvaged a point for Toze Marreco's team.
The result meant that the Lions of Faro missed out on the chance to post their first back-to-back wins in the league since May 5.
Despite the outcome, Farense moved to 16th place in the table with 13 points, one place above the automatic relegation zone.
Having finished 10th in the previous campaign, the form of Marreco's team this term has not inspired confidence.
Central to their travails in the current campaign is their poor away form and a dearth of goals, with the visitors managing one win on the road and scoring a meagre 11 goals so far this season.
A win for the visitors on Sunday could steer them further from the relegation zone; however, with only one win in eight away fixtures this season, there is little or no hope for the away fans to hold on to ahead of the fixture.
Team News
© Imago
Only Porto's Samu Aghehowa has surpassed Vinicius Lopes's four match-winning goals in the league, highlighting the striker's decisive execution.
Santa Clara will be without Luis Rocha, who will be serving a suspension due to an accumulation of yellow cards; in his absence, Guilherme Ramos should step up to fill the void.
Other than that, Matos has a full complement of his squad to select his starting XI.
For Farense, although Marreco will have almost a full squad available to him, the visitors will be without centre-back Artur Jorge, who is suspended for this fixture, meaning that the trio of Marco Moreno, Lucas Africo and Claudio Falcao will make up the back three.
Similarly, substitute goalkeeper Kaique Pereira, who has been on the sidelines due to a fracture since October, is not expected to play a part in this fixture.
Santa Clara possible starting lineup:
Batista; Ramos, Venancio, Lima; Pereira, Firmino, Klishmahn, Calila; Silva, Lopes, Serginho
SC Farense possible starting lineup:
Velho; Falcao, Africo, Moreno; Pastor, Neto, Menino, Victor; Balde, Poveda, Matias
We say: Santa Clara 2-0 SC Farense
Santa Clara head into this fixture with very good home form, having claimed six wins from their eight home games this season.
Given the dismal form of the visitors, especially on the road, the Azoreans are well-positioned to claim a 2-0 win in this fixture.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
