The 2023-24 Primeira Liga season gets underway this weekend, with Gil Vicente welcoming Portimonense to the Estadio Cidade de Barcelos in Saturday's early kickoff.
Having both battled for top-flight survival throughout the previous campaign, Gil Vicente and Portimonense will be determined to avoid another relegation dogfight this term.
Match preview
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Following a disappointing 2022-23 campaign, Gil Vicente would have been desperate to kick-start the new season on a positive note, but they ended up suffering a 1-0 defeat to Oliveirense in the first round of the Taca da Liga last month.
However, the Roosters returned to winning ways with a friendly victory over Pacos de Ferreira last time out, coming from 2-1 down to secure a 3-2 win against last season's relegation rivals.
Gil Vicente managed to win just 10 of their 34 Primeira Liga clashes last term, recording seven draws and 17 losses along the way, with a run of five defeats in their final seven matches leaving the Barcelos outfit three places above the drop zone.
Although Gil Vicente endured a 2022-23 campaign to forget, they still managed to finish three points and two places above Portimonense, who finished the season one place outside the bottom three.
Indeed, the Portimao club experienced an even tougher time than Gil Vicente last term, losing 20 of their 34 league outings, while Paulo Sergio's men were also the lowest scorers in the Portuguese top flight.
Having netted a measly 25 league goals last season - one goal fewer than Pacos de Ferreira and Santa Clara, who were both relegated - Portimonense must increase their attacking output if they are to avoid another relegation scrap.
It is also worth pointing out that Portimonense have failed to win any of their five pre-season friendlies this summer, suffering defeats to Celtic and Porto before losing 2-1 against Farense last weekend.
The Alvinegros have already played a couple of Taca da Liga matches this term, with a 3-1 victory over Estrela Amadora preceding a goalless draw and subsequent penalty shootout defeat against second-tier outfit Leixoes.
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Team News
Gil Vicente look set to begin their Primeira Liga campaign without Russian goalkeeper Stanislav Kritsyuk and Iranian forward Ali Alipour as the pair continue to recover from injury.
The hosts are expected to deploy a 4-2-3-1 formation, with 20-year-old striker Miguel Monteiro leading the line, while Pedro Tiba and Andre Simoes will likely anchor the midfield.
Portimonense, on the other hand, have signed a host of players this summer, bringing in Vinicius from Palmeiras, Sylvester Jasper from Fulham and Kim Yong-hak from Pohang Steelers, along with a number of other additions.
Paulo Sergio is expected to match the hosts' formation, meaning that 23-year-old striker Paulinho will start in attack, with Filipe Relvas and Alemao operating at centre-back.
Gil Vicente possible starting lineup:
Ventura; Ze Carlos, Pereira, Fernandes, Barros; Tiba, Simoes; Marlon, Fujimoto, Luciano; Monteiro
Portimonense possible starting lineup:
Silvestre; Oliveira, Alemao, Relvas, Seck; Mauricio, Diaby; Jasper, Carlinhos, Rildo; Paulinho
We say: Gil Vicente 0-0 Portimonense
Given that both Gil Vicente and Portimonense narrowly avoided relegation last term, we expect the two sides to play out a tense and cagey stalemate on the opening weekend of the new campaign.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Ben Morris
