Seeking to secure their first home win since August, Famalicao welcome Vitoria de Guimaraes to the Estadio Municipal de Famalicao in round 21 of the Primeira Liga on Saturday.
Having won each of the last three meetings between the teams, Os Vimaranenses will head into the weekend looking to extend their recent dominance over the hosts and pick up back-to-back victories for the first time since November.
Match preview
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After seven matches, Famalicao finally secured the first win of the Hugo Oliveira era as they picked up a 2-0 victory over Boavista when the two sides squared off at the Estadio do Bessa last Friday.
January signing Vaclav Sejk opened his account for the visitors with a fifth-minute strike to hand them a dream start to the contest before 20-year-old Gustavo Sa doubled their advantage in the 55th minute.
Prior to that, Famalicao were on a 10-game winless run across all competitions, losing five and claiming five draws — a run which saw them crash out of the Taca de Portugal courtesy of a 1-0 defeat against Santa Clara in their fourth-round clash on November 24.
Having kicked off the season with much promise, claiming five wins from their opening six matches, Oliveira's men find themselves in the midtables as they sit ninth in the league standings with 24 points from 20 games, level on points with 10th-placed Rio Ave.
Famalicao head into the weekend without a win in their last nine home matches across all competitions, losing four and claiming five draws, and have managed just 11 points at home this season — only Boavista (3) and Farense (7) have picked up fewer points on home turf.
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Like this weekend's hosts, Vitoria de Guimaraes returned to winning ways last time out as they edged out 10-man AVS 2-0 at the Estadio do Desportivo das Aves.
In a game where Gustavo Assuncao received his marching orders, 28-year-old midfielder Samu broke the five minutes after the half-time break before Telmo Arcanjo made sure of the result with a 78th-minute strike.
Vitoria de Guimaraes had failed to win any of their previous nine outings in all competitions, picking up six draws and losing twice, including a shock 2-1 defeat at the hands of Campeonato de Portugal outfit Elvas in the Taca de Portugal fifth round on January 12.
Luis Freire's men have picked up seven wins and eight draws from their 20 Primeira Liga matches to collect 29 points and sit seventh in the table, 11 points adrift of fourth-placed Braga in the final European qualifying places.
While Os Vimaranenses will be looking to build on last weekend's result and launch their push for a top-four finish, results on the road leaves a lot to be desired as they have failed to win each of their last seven away matches in the league since a 2-0 victory at Braga on September 15.
Vitoria de Guimaraes will be backing themselves to end this poor run as they take on an opposing side who have lost each of their most recent three clashes and eight of their last 10 across all competitions since September 2018.
Team News
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Having watched his side secure their first victory since taking over at the helm of affairs, Oliveira could stick to his XI, meaning Rodrigo Pinheiro, Enea Mihaj, Justin De Haas and Rafa Soares could form the back four once again.
Mathias De Amorim and Dutch midfielder Tom Van De Looi should team up at the centre of the park while we expect an unchanged attacking quarter of Sa, Sorriso, Oscar Aranda and Sparta Prague loanee Sejk.
Vitoria de Guimaraes, meanwhile, will take to the pitch without the services of 25-year-old forward Nuno Santos, who is suspended after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season against AVS last time out.
In his absence, 33-year-old Nelson Oliveira will push for his 12th league start of the season, forming the front three with Telmo Arcanjo and Venezuelan striker Jesus Ramirez.
On the injury front, Os Vimaranenses remain without Gustavo Silva, who continues his lengthy spell on the sidelines, while 31-year-old defender Bruno Gaspar has been ruled out through a muscle problem.
Famalicao possible starting lineup:
Carevic; Pinheiro, Mihaj, De Haas, Soares; Van De Looi, Amorim; Sorriso, Sa, Aranda; Sejk
Vitoria de Guimaraes possible starting lineup:
Varela; Maga, Borevkovic, Villanueva, Mendes; Silva, Handel, Samu; Oliveira, Arcanjo, Ramirez
We say: Famalicao 1-2 Vitoria de Guimaraes
Having both secured much-needed victories last time out, Famalicao and Vitoria de Guimaraes will be looking to get one over the other and put together a fine run of form. Os Vimaranenses boast a slightly superior and more experienced squad and we fancy them to secure a fourth straight win over the home side.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
