A key battle at the bottom end of the Primeira Liga table will take place at the Estadio Jose Gomes on Friday, as Estrela Amadora welcome Portimonense.
Although the visitors sit 12th in the Portuguese top flight, they only sit three points better off than their hosts who occupy the relegation playoff place.
Match preview
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Estrela Amadora head into Friday's game aiming to end a rut in the Primeira Liga and jump out of the relegation zone, having dropped into the bottom three in recent weeks.
After winning promotion to the top flight for the first time last season, the Tricolores enjoyed a creditable start, collecting 15 points from their first 13 outings courtesy of four victories, but they have been unable to build on that record in their seven attempts since the last of those triumphs in mid-December.
On the back of a draw and a defeat to end 2023, Sergio Vieira's side kicked off the new year with a pair of 1-1 stalemates against Vizela and Gil Vicente, but they now return to the Estadio Jose Gomes on the back of three straight league defeats, firstly taking a 3-0 beating away at Vitoria de Guimaraes.
Benfica then visited Amadora and left with a 4-1 triumph, despite Leo Jaba putting the hosts ahead in the 28th minute, before Vieira's side most recently travelled to take on fellow strugglers Estoril Praia on Sunday and again came away empty-handed as Mateus Fernandes netted the only goal around the hour mark to seal a 1-0 home win.
While they have now dropped into the relegation playoff place, Estrela Amadora do only trail Rio Ave on goal difference, Casa Pia by two points and three sides including Friday's visitors by three points, and they will be confident of quickly improving their standing in the fight for survival if they are to end their rut and find a fifth top-flight win of the campaign.
Portimonense, meanwhile, will bid to stretch that gap between the two sides and give their own survival hopes a major boost after enjoying a slight improvement in recent weeks.
After only finishing one place above the bottom three in the Primeira Liga last time around, Portimonense experienced a mixed start to the new term and dropped into a concerning position at the bottom end of the division with a dismal run between early December and the start of the New Year, going five games without a win while only picking up a single draw.
That rut left the Alvinegros on just 15 points from 16 league outings, but they have been able to bounce back to an extent since mid-January, firstly ending the wait for a victory by beating Farense 1-0 thanks to Carlinhos's goal on the hour mark, but they did not manage to build on that triumph, going on to lose 2-0 in the following encounter at home to Gil Vicente.
Paulo Sergio's side would rebound in style in the following trip to Boavista, dishing out a 4-1 beating with Helio Varela, Sylvester Jasper, Carlinhos and Luan on the scoresheet, before any momentum was followed by another defeat last time out, as they hosted eighth-placed Arouca and came away empty-handed with Rafa Mujica and Matias Rocha firing the visitors to a 2-1 win as Ronie Carrillo's goal was not enough to spark a turnaround.
While they are yet to build a run to trigger a climb away from any danger and towards the top half of the Primeira Liga, Portimonense have, at least, moved three points above the bottom three and seven ahead of the automatic drop zone with their two victories in the last four outings, and they will now set out to return to winning ways again on Friday with the chance to stretch that gap further and move as high as ninth depending on other results.
Team News
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Estrela Amadora will likely head into Friday's meeting with a clean bill of health, aside from the long-term absences of goalkeeper Antonio Filipe and defender Miguel Lopes.
They will also welcome Regis N'Do back to action after he served a one-match suspension last time out for a red card shown in their defeat to Benfica, and he will bid to return to a front three on Friday, with Rodrigo Pinho having come in and led the line last time out.
Kikas, Leo Jaba and Ronaldo Tavares are also vying for attacking spots, while Leo Cordeiro and Aloisio should continue to partner up in the engine room with Ruben Lima, Pedro Mendes and Johnstone Omurwa set to continue in a back three after the narrow defeat to Estoril Praia.
Portimonense head into Friday's trip without defender Guga, who will serve a suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards, with Goncalo Costa set to come in on the right-hand side of a back four in his absence.
Ronie Carrillo will likely come in from the start and lead the line in place of Hildeberto Pereira, after coming off the bench to net his fifth goal of the season in their defeat to Arouca last weekend, while Carlinhos will continue to play a key role in the middle of a supporting trio in a 4-2-3-1 shape, having notched up a team-high tally of eight goals so far this term.
Rodrigo Martins and Fulham loanee Sylvester Jasper should again line up on the wings, while Steve Mvoue and Lucas Ventura will hope to continue their partnership at the base of the midfield.
Estrela Amadora possible starting lineup:
Bruno; Lima, Mendes, Omurwa; Santos, Aloisio, Cordeiro, Varela; Kikas, Pinho, Jaba
Portimonense possible starting lineup:
Nakamura; Costa, Henrique, Relvas, Seck; Mvoue, Ventura; Martins, Carlinhos, Jasper; Carrillo
We say: Estrela Amadora 0-1 Portimonense
Devoid of confidence, Estrela Amadora find themselves in the midst of a rut, and while they will fight desperately to avoid being cut adrift, we see the visitors having enough to take all three points with slightly more quality across the pitch.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
