Fresh off the back of an opening-day victory in the new Taca da Liga campaign, Casa Pia journey to the Estadio Cidade de Barcelos to face Gil Vicente in round seven of the Primeira Liga on Monday.
Having lost both home and away meetings between the sides last season, Os Gansos' will head into this one looking to get one over the hosts and pick up successive wins for the first time this season.
Match preview
© Reuters
Gil Vicente were sent crashing back to earth last Saturday as they suffered a 2-1 defeat against Porto when the sides squared off at the Estadio do Dragao.
After falling behind to Ivan Jaime's early opener, Depu struck in the 37th minute to end the first half level, but Stephen Eustaquio came up clutch for the hosts as he grabbed the winning goal in the 91st minute.
Prior to that, the Gilistas snapped their run of three back-to-back defeats on September 17 when they thrashed Estoril Praia 5-3 courtesy of goals from Pedro Tiba, Maxime Dominguez, Murilo Souza, Felix Coreia and Depu.
With six points from their opening six matches, Vitor Campelos's men are currently 11th in the Portuguese Primeira Liga standings, level on points with Farense and Arouca.
Gil Vicente now return home, where they have won four of their last five matches since the start of May, with a narrow 3-2 loss at the hands of Benfica on August 26 being the exception.
© Reuters
Casa Pia, on the other hand, kicked off the 2023-24 Taca da Liga campaign on the front foot as they picked up a 2-1 victory over Nacional in Thursday's Group A opener at the Estadio Municipal de Rio Maior.
Os Gansos found themselves trailing at half time after Witti broke the deadlock inside the opening three minutes but second-half goals from Felipe Cardoso and Clayton helped them turn the game on its head.
Casa Pia now turn their attention to the Primeira Liga, where they are unbeaten in five of their opening six matches this season, picking up two wins and three draws so far.
Their only defeat in the league came on August 18, when they were beaten 2-1 by Sporting Lisbon, with Paulinho scoring a brace to fire Ruben Amorim's side to all three points.
With nine points from the first 18 available, Filipe Martins's side are currently eighth in the Primeira League standings but could move into sixth place with all three points on Monday.
However, standing in their way is an opposing side who have won each of their last three meetings, scoring three goals and keeping two clean sheets since October 2016.
Team News
© Reuters
Gil Vicente remain without the services of experienced goalkeeper Stanislav Kritsyuk, who has been sidelined since February through a severe muscle problem.
He is joined on the Gilistas' injury table by forward Ali Alipour, who also continues his lengthy spell on the sidelines after coming off injured in February's game against Famalicao.
Meanwhile, Casa Pia will take to the pitch without the attacking duo of Kiki Silva and Leo Natel, who have been ruled out through muscle and ACL injuries respectively.
Portuguese midfielder Rafael Brito, who completed a summer move from Maritimo, is yet to make his debut as he is currently recuperating from a muscle injury sustained back in May.
With his winner in midweek, Clayton now has six goals across all competitions this season and we expect the Brazilian forward to spearhead the visitors' attack once again.
Gil Vicente possible starting lineup:
Andrew; Ze Carlos, Pereira, Fernandes, Buta; Neto, Tiba; Souza, Dominguez, Correia; Aurelio
Casa Pia possible starting lineup:
Batista; Varela, Fernandes, Zolotic; Larrazabal, Neto, Roberto, Lelo; Soma, Clayton, Andrade
We say: Gil Vicente 1-1 Casa Pia
While Gil Vicente endured a turbulent start to the season, they will be backing themselves to extend their dominance over Casa Pia and grab the desired result in front of their home fans. However, the visitors have picked up four wins and one draw in their five away games this season and we see them leaving with something at the Estadio Cidade de Barcelos.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
