Seeking to pick up consecutive home wins for the first time this season, Santa Clara play host to Estrela Amadora in round six of the Primeira Liga on Saturday.
The Tricolores, on the other hand, have stumbled into the new campaign and will journey to the Estadio de Sao Miguel looking to secure their first win of the season.
Match preview
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Santa Clara were outclassed and outplayed by a rampant Benfica side last Saturday who cruised to a 4-1 victory when the two sides squared off at the Estadio da Luz.
Brazilian striker Vinicius Lopes put the visitors ahead in scoring in the opening minute of the game but Benfica hit back with four straight goals courtesy of Kerem Akturkoglu, Florentino Luis, Antonio Silva and Angel Di Maria.
Having kicked off the season with a resounding 4-1 victory over Estoril Praia on August 11, Santa Clara came crashing back to earth one week later, when they fell to a 2-0 home loss against Porto courtesy of first-half goals from Ivan Jaime and Wanderson Galeno.
However, Os Acorianos bounced back with two victories in their subsequent two outings, beating 10-man Casa Pia 2-0 at the Estadio Pina Manique on August 24, one week before seeing off AVS 2-1 on home turf.
Despite the loss against Benfica, Vasco Matos will be impressed with his side's start to the campaign as they have picked up nine points from the first 15 available to sit sixth in the table, having gained promotion from the second tier last season.
Santa Clara stormed to the Segunda Liga title as they picked up 21 wins and 10 draws from their 34 matches to finish with 73 points, two points above second-placed Nacional in the second automatic promotion spot.
Elsewhere, Estrela Amadora continue to struggle for results in the new campaign as they could only salvage a 2-2 draw against Boavista at the Estadio Jose Gomes on Monday.
In an end-to-end affair, Bruno Onyemaechi and Ilija Voktic scored on either side of Luis Nani's 34th-minute and put Boavista in front heading into half time but Kikas struck eight minutes after the hour mark to force a share of the spoils.
Estrela Amadora have now failed to win any of their five matches to start the season, losing three and picking up two draws while scoring three goals and conceding eight so far.
Head coach Filipe Martins will hope that the resilient display shown against Boavista can serve as a catalyst for a fine run of form as the Tricolores find themselves bottom but one in the table, having picked up just two points from the first 15 available.
However, Estrela will need to be at their best at the Estadio de Sao Miguel as they have failed to win any of their last 16 competitive games on the road, a run stretching back to a 1-0 victory over amateur side Vila Mea in the Taca de Portugal back in October 2023.
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Team News
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Santa Clara will take to the pitch without the services of experienced defender Pedro Pacheco, who has been out of action since coming off injured in the game against Leiria on May 19.
Barring any late fitness issues, Pacheco should be the only absentee for Os Acorianos and we expect Matos to name a similar side from last weekend's clash against Benfica.
With his opener against As Aguias, Lopes now has three goal contributions this season and the 25-year-old should lead the Santa Clara attack once again, alongside Alisson Safira and Gabriel Silva, who have each scored two goals so far.
Meanwhile, Estrela will have to cope without Portuguese defender Ferro, who has missed the last two games since sustaining a knee problem against Benfica on August 24.
He is joined on the Tricolores' injury table by Malian defender Issiar Drame, who is set to sit out his fifth straight game after coming off injured in the season opener against Braga on August 11.
Angola international Manuel Keliano was forced off injured at half time against Boavista last time out and the 21-year-old midfielder could be replaced by Igor Jesus in the XI this weekend.
Santa Clara possible starting lineup:
Batista; Lima, Venancio, Rocha; Soares, Ferreira, Firmino, Nunes; Lopes, Safira, Silva
Estrela Amadora possible starting lineup:
Brigido; Veiga, Gabriel, Cissokho, Nilton; Jesus, Cordeiro; Nani, Henrique, Ruiz; Kikas
We say: Santa Clara 2-0 Estrela Amadora
While Estrela will be looking to get their season up and running this weekend, they are in for a tough 90 minutes against a Santa Clara side who have shown they have what it takes to compete in the big leagues. That said, we predict that Matos' men will bounce back from their loss against Benfica and secure a second consecutive home victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
