Santa Clara play host to Moreirense at the Estadio de Sao Miguel in round two of the Portuguese Primeira Liga on Sunday.

This is the second meeting between the sides in the space of a month following a 3-0 victory for Santa Clara when they faced off in a pre-season friendly on July 14.

Match preview

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Off the back of an impressive sixth-placed finish last season, Santa Clara picked up where they left off as they opened the new campaign with three straight victories in the Europa Conference League qualifiers.

Daniel Ramos's men also sealed their place in the third round of the Taca da Liga qualifiers courtesy of a 3-0 victory over Farense on penalties two Saturdays ago.

However, this fine run came to an end in their Primeira Liga curtain-raiser last Sunday when they fell to a 3-0 defeat against Tondela.

Debutant Daniel dos Anjos put on a clinic in front of the home fans, scoring twice to put CDT Auriverdes in the driver's seat before Joao Pedro completed the rout from the penalty spot with six minutes remaining on the clock.

Santa Clara quickly bounced back from the defeat with a 1-0 second-leg win over Slovenian outfit Olimpija Ljubljana four days later to progress into the fourth round of the Conference League qualifiers.

Moreirense, meanwhile, were denied a second straight opening-day victory when they fell to a 2-1 home defeat against 10-man Benfica last Saturday.

In a game where Diogo Goncalves received his marching orders, As Aguias raced to a two-goal lead through Lucas Verissimo and Luca Waldschmidt before Rafael Martins pulled one back for the hosts.

This followed an early exit from the Taca da Liga qualifiers as they were defeated by second-tier Penafiel on penalties following a 1-1 stalemate in normal time.

Joao Henriques's side will now look to exact revenge on the hosts, who picked up a 3-0 victory in July's friendly courtesy of goals from Joao Afonso, Lincoln and Crysan.

They have picked up six wins and six draws from their last 19 encounters and will look to get one over the opposing side at the fourth time of asking since their 1-0 win back in December 2020.

Team News

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Santa Clara will still have to cope without the services of Allano, who has missed the last five games through a hamstring injury.

Barring the Brazilian forward, Ramos has a full house at his disposal and we expect the 50-year-old to name an unchanged XI from last time out.

Carlos Junior has been pivotal in Os Acoreanos' hunt for a place in the Conference League, scoring in three of their opening four qualification games and the Brazilian forward will be one to watch out for on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Portuguese full-back Pedro Amador remains on the Moreirense treatment table after sustaining a lengthy knee injury four games into the 2020-21 league campaign.

Derik Lacerda will also play no part in Sunday's encounter as he continues his long journey back to full fitness having sustained a shoulder injury back in March.

Santa Clara possible starting lineup:
Pereira; Sagna, Afonso, Villanueva, Mansur; Costinha, Morita, Carvalho; Carlos, Junior, Patric

Moreirense possible starting lineup:
Pasinato; Conte, Rosic, Ba, Jorge; Silva, Pacheco, Ramos, Pires; Santos, Martins

We say: Santa Clara 2-1 Moreirense

Despite their opening-day defeat, Santa Clara head into Sunday's game as the more in-form side, having already picked up several wins in their Conference League and League Cup qualifiers. We are tipping them to come out victorious as they take on an out-of-sorts Moreirense side.

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