Still reeling from crashing out of the Taca de Portugal, Santa Clara return to action in the Primeira Liga when they play host to Braga at the Estadio de Sao Miguel on Sunday.
Os Arcebispos head into the weekend unbeaten in each of their most recent seven games against the home side since September 2020 and will be looking to extend this dominant seven-year run.
Match preview
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Santa Clara were dumped out of the Taca de Portugal in the fifth on Wednesday as they fell to a 2-1 extra-time defeat against Sporting Lisbon when the two sides squared off at the Estadio Jose Alvalade.
Pedro Ferreira netted a last-gasp equaliser in the 98th minute to force extra time after Conrad Harder broke the deadlock in the 74th minute to put Sporting Lisbon in front, but Viktor Gyokeres struck in the 113th minute to send their hosts through to the next round.
Santa Clara now turn their attention to the Primeira Liga, where they will be looking to return to winning ways after suffering a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Arouca last Sunday courtesy of a 67th-minute effort from Spanish midfielder Jason.
Prior to that, Vasco Matos's men were on a run of three back-to-back victories in the league, seeing off Vitoria de Guimaraes, Sporting Lisbon and Rio Ave while scoring three goals and keeping three clean sheets across the three games.
Having gained promotion from the second tier last season, Santa Clara have enjoyed an impressive return to the top flight as they sit fourth in the Primeira Liga standings with 27 points from 14 games, two points and one place above Sunday's visitors just outside the European qualification places.
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On the other hand, Braga turned in a resilient team display on Monday when they fought back from two goals down to salvage a 3-3 draw against Famalicao at the Estadio Braga Municipal.
After Amine El Ouazzani netted a 45th-minute own goal to hand Famalicao a first-half lead, Gustavo Sa and Gil Dias netted either side of Roberto Fernandez's 62nd-minute effort to put the Vila Nova two goals up heading into the final 15 minutes, but Paulo Oliveira and Ricardo Horta netted late goals to help the hosts snatch a point.
Braga have now failed to taste victory in three back-to-back matches across all competitions, playing out stalemates in the league on either side of a 3-0 thrashing at the hands of Italian outfit Roma in the Europa League, where they currently sit 25th in the table.
This drop-off in form has been owing to their recent struggles at the defensive end of the pitch, where Carlos Carvalhal's men have shipped eight goals across their most recent three outings, having kept three back-to-back clean sheets preceding this run.
Braga will be backing themselves to find their feet this weekend as they go up against an opposing side who have failed to win any of the last seven clashes between the two teams, losing five and claiming two draws since a 1-0 victory in September 2020.
However, Os Arcebispos will need to show their mettle at the Estadio de Sao Miguel, where Santa Clara are on a run of six consecutive victories, claiming 18 points from a possible 21 — the division's joint third-best record this season.
Team News
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Santa Clara will take to the pitch without the services of Diogo Calila and 26-year-old midfielder Ferreira, who are both suspended after crossing the yellow card threshold with their bookings against Arouca last weekend.
That said, we expect Brazilian midfielder Lucas Soares to come into the fold, teaming up with Miguel Araujo, Adriano Firmino and Matheus Nunes, while Vinicius Lopes, Alisson Safira and Gabriel Silva should form the front three once again.
At the defensive end of the pitch, we should see an unchanged back three of Frederico Venancio, Luis Rocha and Sidney Lima while 27-year-old centre-back Pedro Pacheco continues his lengthy spell on the sidelines through a knee injury.
Fernandez's 62nd-minute strike inspired Braga's second-half comeback against Famalicao last time out and the Spanish striker, who has started just five games this season, could be rewarded with a place in the XI this weekend.
Oliveira opened his account for the Os Arcebispos this season in the aforementioned game and the 32-year-old defender should retain his role at the heart of the back three, teaming up with Joao Ferreira and Sikou Niakate.
Santa Clara possible starting lineup:
Batista; Venancio, Rocha, Lima; Soares, Araujo, Firmino, Nunes; Lopes, Safira, Silva
Braga possible starting lineup:
Hornicek; Ferreira, Oliveira, Niakate; Fernandes, Carvalho, R Horta, Martinez; Zalazar, Bruma, Fernandez
We say: Santa Clara 2-2 Braga
Santa Clara and Braga have suffered a drop off in form in recent weeks and will head into the weekend looking to find their feet. Matos's men have been near impenetrable at home this season and we predict they will do just enough to force a share of the spoils against a superior Braga side.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
