Two sides level on points go head to head in round 11 of the Portuguese Primeira Liga as Santa Clara play host to Vitoria de Guimaraes at the Estadio de Sao Miguel on Sunday.
Having won both home and away meetings between the two teams last season, Os Vimaranenses will head into the weekend looking to extend their recent dominance over the hosts and make it three wins from three in November.
Match preview
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Santa Clara were condemned to consecutive defeats for the first time since April 2023 last Monday as they lost 2-0 against Nacional when the sides squared off at the Estadio da Madeira.
Isaac and 28-year-old striker Ruben Macedo scored quick-fire goals to put Nacional two goals up inside the opening quarter-of-an-hour before the Primeira Liga newcomers turned in a defensive show of class to see out their first win in seven games across all competitions.
This came just five days after Santa Clara were dumped out of the Taca da Liga in the opening round where they fell to a 3-0 defeat against Benfica courtesy of a second-half brace from Vangelis Pavlidis and Angel Di Maria's 71st-minute strike.
Off the back of two consecutive defeats on the road, Santa Clara will be backing themselves to bounce back this weekend as they return to the Estadio de Sao Miguel, where they have won each of their last four games, scoring six goals and conceding twice since August's 2-0 loss against Porto.
However, Vasco Matos's men now will need to be at their best as they go up against a side who are unbeaten in nine of their last 13 clashes since February 2012, picking two draws and seven wins, including back-to-back victories in their two league encounters last season.
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Vitoria de Guimaraes, on the other hand, continue to ride high in the Conference League as they picked up a 2-1 victory over Mlada Boleslav at the Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques on Thursday.
Despite their wasteful display in front of goal, Rui Borges's secured a comfortable lead through a 40th-minute penalty from Tiago Silva and Oscar Rivas's 59th-minute strike before 24-year-old Vasil Kusej pulled one back for the Czech outfit in the 72nd minute.
Vitoria de Guimaraes have now won each of their three games in the Conference League this season, scoring seven goals and conceding three to sit among the six sides at the top of the table with a 100% record to start the campaign.
Os Vimaranenses now turn their focus to the Primeira Liga, where they snapped a run of four consecutive games without a win last Sunday when Nelson Oliveira struck in the second half to fire them to a 1-0 victory over Moreirense on home turf.
Guimaraes have picked up five wins and three draws from their 10 matches to start the league campaign, claiming 18 points from a possible 30 to sit fifth in the league standings, level on points with this weekend's hosts.
Team News
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Santa Clara remain without the services of Portuguese defender Pedro Pacheco, who has been out of action since sustaining a severe knee injury in the Segunda Liga clash against Leiria in May.
Fellow defender Frederico Venancio has missed each of the last two games since picking up a game-ending injury against Gil Vicente on October 25 and the 31-year-old is a major doubt for Matos' men.
Alisson Safira netted a brace to fire Vitoria de Guimaraes to a 3-1 win against Santa Clara when the two sides last met in March 2023, and having jumped ship in the January window, the 29-year-old will be looking to make his mark against his former employers.
As for Guimaraes, Jorge Fernandes has been out of action since sustaining a shoulder injury against AVS back in August and the 27-year-old defender will also play no part in Sunday's clash.
Summer signing Rivas had a debut to remember as he opened his account for Os Vimaranenses against Mlada in midweek and the former Alcorcon man defender should be involved in the matchday squad this weekend.
Santa Clara possible starting lineup:
Batista; Ramos, Rocha, Lima; Calila, Ferreira, Firmino, Nunes; Lopes, Safira, Silva
Vitoria de Guimaraes possible starting lineup:
Varela; Gaspar, Ribeiro, Villanueva, Mendes; T Silva, Handel, Samu; Cesar, Oliveira, Santos
We say: Santa Clara 1-2 Vitoria de Guimaraes
Santa Clara and Vitoria de Guimaraes have enjoyed a solid start to the Primeira Liga campaign and find themselves level on points in the top half of the league standings.
While both sides will look to get one over the other and strengthen their position in the table, Os Vimaranenses are unbeaten in seven of their last eight encounters and we fancy them to come away with all three points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
