Seeking to make it three victories on the bounce, Casa Pia play host to Gil Vicente at the Estadio Pina Manique in round 24 of the Primeira Liga on Sunday.
The Gilistas have won each of the last four meetings between the two sides and will head into the weekend looking to complete a second consecutive league double over the hosts.
Match preview
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Having kicked off the year with a resounding 4-1 victory over Moreirense, a run of one point from their subsequent five matches saw Casa Pia drop into the relegation conversation.
However, Os Gansos have turned their fortunes around with two back-to-back victories, seeing off Arouca 1-0 on February 18 before claiming a 2-0 victory over Vitoria de Guimaraes when the sides met last Saturday.
Despite seeing just 31% of the ball possession and being on the back foot for most of the game, Casa Pia turned in a defensive show of class the Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques as Clayton and Pablo scored first-half goals to hand Guimaraes their sixth defeat of the season.
The appointment of head coach Goncalo Santos is proving to be a masterstroke by Casa Pia as they have now won consecutive Primeira Liga games for the first time since beating Rio Ave and Braga in 2022.
With 26 points from 23 matches, Casa Pia are currently 11th in the league standings but they could rise into eighth place this weekend as they sit level on points with Famalicao, Farense and Sunday's visitors.
Gil Vicente, on the other hand, avoided a fourth successive home defeat against Porto last weekend when they fought back from behind to salvage a 1-1 draw at the Estadio Cidade de Barcelos.
Following a relatively-uneventful first half, Evanilson rebounded home his missed penalty in the 59th minute to put the Dragoes ahead but Thomas Luciano came up clutch for the hosts as he restored parity in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
Prior to that, the Gilistas snapped their run of three consecutive defeats across all competitions with a 3-1 victory at Estoril Praia on February 18 courtesy of second-half goals from Gabriel Pereira, Felix Correia and Ali Alipour.
Vitor Campelos's men will be backing themselves to return to winning ways on Sunday as they take on a Casa Pia side who have lost each of the last four meetings, conceding six goals and scoring just once since October 2016.
However, Gil Vicente will need their A-game at the Estadio Pina Manique as they have lost seven of their nine Primeira Liga away matches this season while conceding 23 goals and scoring 11 so far.
Team News
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Casa Pia will take to the pitch without the services of Portuguese forward Kiki Silva, who has been sidelined since last March through an Achilles tendon injury.
Clayton was involved in both goals against Vitoria de Guimaraes last time out and the Brazilian forward, who now has eight goals and one assist to his name, should lead Os Gansos attack once again.
Off the back of keeping two consecutive clean sheets, we expect Santos to name an unchanged back three of Fernando Varela, Duplexe Tchamba and Nermin Zolotic shielding Ricardo Batista in goal for the third consecutive game.
As for Gil Vicente, Portuguese defender Kiko Vilas Boas has been sidelined since coming off against Portimonense on January 22 and the 24-year-old will play no part in Sunday's game.
He is joined on the Gilistas' injury table by fellow countryman Ze Carlos, who has missed the last five matches, while Angolan forward Depu has been out of action since October.
Feyenoord loanee Tidjany Toure was forced off injured midway through last weekend's game against Porto and the 21-year-old midfielder is a doubt for Campelos's side.
Casa Pia possible starting lineup:
Batista; Varela, Tchamba, Zolotic; Larrazabal, Brito, Neto, Lelo; Lameiras, Clayton, Roberto
Gil Vicente possible starting lineup:
Andrew; Pinto, Pereira, Fernandes, Buta; Tiba, Gbane; Fujimoto, Neto, Souza; Correia
We say: Casa Pia 1-0 Gil Vicente
The appointment of Santos has turned Casa Pia's fortunes around for the better and they will head into the weekend with renewed confidence. Despite their impressive display against Porto, Gil Vicente have struggled for consistency in recent weeks and we are tipping Casa Pia to come away with a narrow victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
