Vitoria de Guimaraes and Gil Vicente lock horns at the Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques in round two of the Portuguese Primeira Liga on Saturday.
Having picked up wins in their respective opening-day fixtures, both sides will head into the weekend looking to continue their perfect start to the new league campaign.
Match preview
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Vitoria de Guimaraes got their 2023-24 Primeira Liga season off on a winning note as they edged out nearly-promoted Estrela Amadora 1-0 at the Estadio Jose Gomes.
In a game where Miguel Lopes received an early bath, 24-year-old forward Jota Silva came up trumps for the visitors as he netted the only goal of the game in the 24th minute to hand the newcomers an opening-day defeat.
Prior to that, Joao Teixeira's men were dumped out of the Europa Conference League qualifiers in the second round as they fell to a penalty-shootout loss to Celje after a 4-4 aggregate draw with the Slovenian outfit.
Vitoria de Guimaraes head into the new season on the back of two consecutive sixth-placed finishes in the last two Primeira Liga campaigns and will look to establish themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the Portuguese top flight.
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Gil Vicente, on the other hand, could not have hoped for a better start to the new league campaign as they steamrolled Portimonense 5-0 in last weekend's opener.
In a one-sided affair at the Estadio Cidade de Barcelos, goals from Kanya Fujimoto netted a first-half brace to set the hosts on their way before Pedro Tiba, Tidjany Toure and Gabriel Pereira added to the scoreline to cap off a super team display.
This followed a shock 1-0 loss against second-tier Oliveirense at the Estadio Carlos Osorio on July 22 which saw them crash out of the Taca da Liga qualification race in the opening round.
Oliveirense condemned Vitor Campelos's side to a seventh back-to-back defeat on the road across all competitions, stretching back to February's 2-1 victory over Porto at the Estadio do Dragao.
While Gil Vicente will be looking to end this dire run on Saturday, they journey to the Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques, where they are on a run of two successive defeats and have managed just two wins in their last eight visits since December 2011.
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Team News
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With his winner in last week's league opener, Jota Silva has been involved in three of Vitoria de Guimaraes' five goals this season and the 24-year-old will be one to keep an eye on.
Jota Silva, who made 30 league appearances last season, should spearhead the hosts' attack once again, strike partner Andre Silva, who scored six league goals last term.
At the opposite end of the pitch, we expect an unchanged back three of Bruno Gaspar, Jorge Fernandes and Mikel Villanueva shielding Bruno Varela between the sticks.
Off the back of a resounding opening-day victory, Campelos could name an unchanged XI this weekend, meaning that we could see a midfield trio of Tiba, Mory Gbane and Maxime Dominguez.
Fujimoto turned in a performance of the highest quality against Portimonense and should lead the Gilistas' attack once again, teaming up with Marlon and Roko Baturina in the final third.
On the injury front, Gil Vicente will be without the services of Ali Alipour and veteran goalkeeper Stanislav Kritsyuk, who continue their spells on the sidelines.
Vitoria de Guimaraes possible starting lineup:
Varela; Gaspar, Fernandes, Villanueva; Gaspar, T Silva, D Silva, Ze Carlos, Freitas; J Silva, A Silva
Gil Vicente possible starting lineup:
Andrew; Ze Carlos, Pereira, Fernandes, Buta; Tiba, Gbane, Dominguez; Marlon, Baturina, Fujimoto
We say: Vitoria de Guimaraes 2-2 Gil Vicente
Looking at past results between Vitoria de Guimaraes and Gil Vicente, we anticipate another thrilling contest with plenty of goalmouth action. That said, we predict both sides will cancel out each other's efforts and settle for a share of the spoils.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
