Portimonense set out in search of their first win of the 2023-24 Primeira Liga campaign when they play host to Estrela Amadora at the Estadio Municipal de Portimao on Saturday evening.
This will be the second meeting between the sides this season, with the Alvinegros picking up a 3-1 victory in their Taca da Liga first qualifying round clash back in July.
Match preview
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Portimonense were denied their first win of the new Primeira Liga campaign as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Arouca at the Estadio Municipal de Arouca last Saturday.
Helio Varela opened the scoring inside the opening five minutes to put the visitors in front, but Guinean midfielder Morlaye Sylla struck with six minutes left in the game to force a share of the spoils.
Prior to that, Paulo Sergio's men kicked off the league campaign with a 5-0 hammering against Gil Vicente at the Estadio Cidade de Barcelos on August 12, one week before losing 4-1 at home to Boavista.
The Alvinegros have now gone six consecutive games without a win across all competitions, a run which saw them miss out on the Taca da Liga group stages following a penalty-shootout loss to Leixoes in the second qualifying round on July 30.
With last weekend's result, Portimonense have also failed to win their last eight Primeira Liga matches, losing six and picking up two draws since a 1-0 victory over Gil Vicente on April 23.
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Estrela Amadora, on the other hand, picked up their first-ever victory in the Portuguese top flight last Friday when they edged out Estoril Praia 2-1 at the Estadio Jose Gomes.
Following a relatively uneventful first half, the game sparked to life in the second as Ronaldo Tarvares and Leo Cordeiro scored either side of Joao Marques's 67th-minute equaliser to hand the visitors their second league defeat of the season.
This was a much-needed result for the Primeira Liga newcomers, who were formed in 2020 when Clube Desportivo Estrela merged with Santra-based side Club Sintra Football.
Estrela has lost their opening four games in all competitions to start the season, including a 2-1 loss to Portimonense in the Taca da Liga qualifiers on July 23 and successive league defeats against Vitoria de Guimaraes and Benfica.
Having finished third in the Segunda Liga standings last season, Sergio Vieira's side confirmed promotion to top flight the via the playoffs courtesy of a penalty-shootout victory over Maritimo.
The Portuguese head coach will hope that last Friday's result can serve as a springboard for a fine run of form as the Tricolores look to pick up back-to-back wins for the first time in the top flight.
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Team News
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Portimonense will take to the pitch without the services of newly-signed forward Sylvester Jasper, who has missed the last two games after coming off injured in the league opener against Gil Vicente.
Other than that, the Alvinegros head into the weekend with a clean bill of health and no suspension concerns, giving Sergio the luxury of a full-strength squad at his disposal.
Varela turned in an eye-catching performance against Arouca last time out and the 21-year-old should be handed a second straight starting appearance, joining Ronie Carrillo and Rildo in the front three once again.
As for Estrela, Vieira will be unable to call upon the services of 31-year-old forward Joao Reis, who missed the game against Estoril Praia through a muscle problem.
He is joined on the Tricolores' injury table by experienced defender Mansur, who is also set to sit out his second consecutive game and 26-year-old Mario Balburdia, who has been sidelined since July.
Portimonense possible starting lineup:
Nakamura; Formiga, Alemao, Relvas, Costa; Dener, Mauricio; Carlinhos; Rildo, Carrillo, Varela
Estrela Amadora possible starting lineup:
Brigido; Gaspar, Lopes, Omurwa; Santos, Aloisio, Cordeiro, Vito; Ronald, Jaba, Tavares
We say: Portimonense 2-1 Estrela Amadora
Estrela scraped a narrow home win against Estoril Praia last time out and are in for another tough 90 minutes against an experienced Portimonense side. Sergio's men have won each of the last two meetings between the sides and we are backing them to see off the Tricolores, who are without a win in their last four away matches across all competitions.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
