SC Farense and Estoril Praia square off in Primeira Liga on Sunday looking to improve on a poor start to the season.
While the visitors sit in 13th position in the standings, the home side hold up the rest of the division by sitting at the bottom with just one point.
Match preview
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Given the manner in which they ended the last campaign, it should perhaps come as no surprise that Estoril Praia have struggled during the early weeks of this campaign.
Just one victory has been recorded in seven matches, with that solitary win coming against 17th-placed Nacional by a 1-0 scoreline.
That came during a four-game unbeaten streak, the three draws in question coming against teams not expected to challenge in the upper echelons of the division.
Last time out, Ian Cathro's side succumbed to a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Sporting Lisbon, albeit reducing the free-scoring leaders to two strikes until the 90th minute.
One positive for Estoril ahead of this contest is just three goals being conceded in as many away games in Portugal's top flight during 2024-25.
As for Farense, their 10th-placed finish last season is very much a distant memory after they started this campaign with six successive defeats.
To their credit, they did not concede more than twice in five of those matches, with their only heavy defeat coming by a 5-0 scoreline at home to Sporting.
Nevertheless, Farense's hierarchy still took the decision to appoint Toze as a replacement for Jose Mota, and a goalless draw was subsequently earned at AVS Futebol SAD last time out.
Farense still sit four points adrift from safety, however, which heaps the pressure on performing in games such as this one, with the opportunity there to move to within two points of their 13th-placed opponents.
Team News
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Toze is expected to be forced into making at least two changes after Mehdi Merghem and Filipe Soares suffered injuries against AVS.
Miguel Menino and Elves Balde could be brought into the team in central midfield and on the flank respectively.
Jordan Holsgrove is an option to come into the Estoril midfield, potentially as a replacement for Jandro Orellana.
While Joao Carvalho and Xeka remain on the sidelines, Cathro will hope to have Helder Costa available again after injury.
SC Farense possible starting lineup:
Velho; Pastor, Jorge, Falcao, Africo, Poloni; Balde, Neto, Menino, Bermejo; Millan
Estoril Praia possible starting lineup:
Robles; Amaral, Alvaro, Boma, Pina; Michel, Zanocelo, Holsgrove; Garcia, Marques, Begraoui
We say: SC Farense 1-2 Estoril Praia
With Farense's solitary point coming last time out, they will be on a relative high. However, Estoril possess the greater quality of these two sides, leading us to predict a hard-earned victory for the visitors.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Darren Plant
