Preview: Rio Ave vs. Belenenses - prediction, team news

Belenenses will look to continue their steady climb up the Primeira Liga table on Sunday when they travel to the Estadio dos Arcos to take on 10th-placed Rio Ave.

The sides are now separated by just one point in the top flight, and both will be hoping to build on positive runs of league form with a result on Sunday.

Match preview

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Rio Ave picked up a commendable point last time out, drawing 1-1 in a mid-table clash away at eighth-placed Moreirense.

Miguel Cardoso 's men took the lead after just seven minutes as Filipe Soares put the ball into his own net, but the hosts would go on to equalise through Felipe Pires in the final 10 minutes, seeing the sides share the points.

That followed a 2-0 win at home to strugglers Farense, as Pele and Rafael Camacho netted goals to seal a sixth league win of the campaign for Os Rioavistas.

While Cardoso's side now sit ninth in the top flight, that position could be much better if he finds a way to improve their attack, as only one side have netted fewer than their 19 goals from 23 league outings this season.

That one team is Sunday's opponents, with Belenenses only scoring 14 goals so far this campaign, despite their recent rise up the table.

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The visitors got back to winning ways last time out, as Miguel Filipe Nunes Cardoso fired them to a 1-0 victory away at Farense.

Having previously sat in the bottom three, O Belem have enjoyed somewhat of an upturn in form recently, picking up seven points from their last four games.

As a result, Petit 's men have moved up to 10th spot in the top flight, sitting just one point behind Sunday's opponents.

However, they are still not completely safe from the threat of relegation, with just a five-point gap between themselves and the automatic drop zone.

That means if Belenenses' form dips back down to the previous levels, they could quickly be dragged back into danger, and Petit will be desperate to increase their cushion with another win on Sunday.

Rio Ave Primeira Liga form:

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W

L

L

W

D

Belenenses Primeira Liga form:

D

D

W

D

L

W

Team News

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Rio Ave will be without right-back Ivo Pinto for this game, after he was shown his fifth yellow card of the season last time out, despite being an unused substitute in that game.

They will also be missing experienced left-back Fabio Coentrao, who has been absent for the last five games through injury.

It is not just the Rio Ave defence which has been hit with issues though, as midfielder Nikola Jambor and forward Andre Pereira both continue spells on the sidelines.

Belenenses will be without Ruben Lima and Thibang Phete for this game, after the pair both received their fifth yellow cards of the season last time out.

Forward Mateo Cassierra will be looking to return to the starting side, having been dropped to the bench for the game against Farense.

Rio Ave possible starting lineup:

Kieszek; Costinha, Borevkovic, Santos, Savio; Pele, Augusto; Mane, Geraldes, Camacho; Dala

Belenenses possible starting lineup:

Kritsyuk; Silva, Henrique, Ribeiro; Esgaio, Taira, Sithole, Varela; Cassierra, Cardoso Sousa

We say: Rio Ave 1-0 Belenenses

In a game between the league's two weakest attacks, it can be expected that this will be a low-scoring affair.

As a result, we see the slightly superior quality of Rio Ave making the difference as they pick up a narrow win over their mid-table rivals.

Top tip

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