Farensevs.AVS

The home side, who are in 17th position in the table, sit four points adrift of their 16th-placed opponents.

Match preview

While last season's 10th-placed finish was always going to be hard to replicate, Farense supporters would have expected far better than than current position.

An eight-match winless streak has left Toze's side four points adrift of safety, as well as just four points above beleaguered Boavista in bottom spot.

Although a 2-2 draw was earned at Arouca last time out with a late equaliser, some would have viewed it as a missed opportunity having led during the early stages.

The positive from that fixture was Farense netting two of their measly 15 league goals this term, while they have only lost five of their 12 away trips.

At Estadio de Sao Luis, though, Farense have lost eight of 11 matches and netted just seven times, something which AVS will hope to take advantage of in both club's biggest game of the campaign thus far.

As for AVS, they continue to upset the odds in their bid for an unlikely survival in the top tier with one of the most eye-catching results of the season being recorded last time out.

Despite trailing Sporting Lisbon 2-0 with 19 minutes remaining, Rui Ferreira's side came roaring back to earn a share of the spoils against the league leaders.

AVS have now earned seven points from their last five encounters, the one victory during that time coming against 14th-placed Gil Vicente to pull another team into a survival battle.

In the long term, AVS have suffered just three defeats in 11 matches, and there is a feeling that momentum is growing ahead of this tussle.

SC Farense Primeira Liga form:

D

L

L

L

L

D

AVS Primeira Liga form:

L

W

L

L

D

D

Team News

Elves Balde is pushing for a return to the Farense starting lineup after serving his one-match suspension.

However, Marco Matias is another playmaker who could come into contention after providing the late assist for his side's equaliser at Arouca.

Ze Carlos remains banned for this contest courtesy of his red card versus Porto on February 16.

Meanwhile, Gustavo Mendonca is in contention for a start in the AVS midfield after his goal as a substitute versus Sporting.

Ignacio Rodriguez may feature in the centre of defence as a replacement for Aderllan Santos, but the remainder of the side could stay the same.

SC Farense possible starting lineup:

Velho; Moreno, Falcao, Jorge; Pastor, Menino, Soares, Poloni; Balde, Tomane, Njie

AVS possible starting lineup:

Ochoa; Tavares, Devenish, Rodriguez, Rodrigues; Lopes, Piazon, Grau, Mercado; Luis, Rodrigues

We say: SC Farense 2-1 AVS

With both sides having earned morale-boosting draws in their previous outing, this could prove to be a competitive fixture between two teams on a high. Despite sitting lower in the table, we are going to side with Farense, who may throw caution to the wind in the closing stages if the game is tight.

Written by

Darren Plant

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