Santa Claravs.AVS

Having gained promotion from the Segunda Liga last season, both sides will look to grab the bragging rights in their first top-flight clash and secure consecutive wins for the first time this season.

Match preview

Santa Clara turned in a solid team performance last Saturday as they edged out 10-man Casa Pia 2-0 when the two teams squared off at the Estadio Municipal de Rio Maior.

Following a relatively uneventful first half, Gabriel Silva came up trumps for the visitors as he broke the deadlock with a 57th-minute strike before substitute Ricardinho doubled the lead in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

Prior to that, Santa Clara announced their return to the Primeira Liga with a bang as they thrashed Estoril Praia 4-1 in the season opener on August 11, five days before crashing back down to earth in a 2-0 loss against Porto.

Having picked up 73 points from 34 matches to clinch the Segunda Liga title and secure automatic promotion last term, head coach Vasco Matos will be delighted with his side's performance so far as they look to put together a strong early-season form.

Os Acorianos will fancy their chances of securing consecutive Primeira Liga wins for the first time since May 2021 as they take on an opposing side who lost their two meetings in the second tier last season.

Goals from Luis Rocha and Rafael Martins in the final seven minutes of the game inspired Santa Clara to a 2-1 comeback victory at home on November 11, before beating the Vila das Aves outfit 2-1 at the Estadio do Desportivo das Aves in March's return fixture.

However, AVS will head into the weekend in high spirits as they secured their first-ever Primeira Liga win last Sunday when they stunned out Vitoria de Guimaraes to a 1-0 victory at the Estadio do Desportivo das Aves.

Veteran striker Nene, who clinched the Segunda Liga Golden Boot last season with 23 goals, delivered the goods once again as he netted in the 74th minute to end the visitors' run of 12 back-to-back wins across all competitions.

Vitor Campelos's men had kicked off the 2024-24 campaign with a 1-1 stalemate against fellow newcomers Nacional on August 10, one week before suffering a 4-2 defeat against Gil Vicente at the Estadio Cidade de Barcelos.

Having picked up four points from the first nine available, AVS can take pride in their solid start to life in the big leagues, considering they were formed into the Portuguese second division just last year, following the demise of UD Vilafranquense.

Santa Clara Primeira Liga form:

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Santa Clara form (all competitions):

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AVS Primeira Liga form:

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Team News

Following their impressive display against Casa Pia, Matos has no major reason to tinker with his starting side, meaning we could see an unchanged back three of Sidney Lima, Frederico Venancio and Rocha for the fourth consecutive game.

Ricardinho turned in an eye-catching cameo last weekend and the 26-year-old, who has now netted two goals off the bench, could be handed his first starting appearance this weekend.

Should they be that case, the 26-year-old should team up with Silva and Allison Safira in the front three, while Lucas Soares, Pedro Ferreira, Gustavo Klismahn and Matheus Araujo should retain their roles at the centre of the park.

With his winner against Vitoria de Guimaraes, Nene has now scored in back-to-back games and we expect the 41-year-old to spearhead the AVS attack once again.

The visitors picked up their first clean sheet of the season last weekend and should name an unchanged back four of Leo Alaba, Cristian Castro, Baptiste Roux and Kiki Afonso, with Verza Simao starting in goal once again.

Santa Clara possible starting lineup:

Batista; Lima, Venancio, Rocha; Soares, Ferreira, Klismahn, Araujo; Lopes, Safira, Silva

AVS possible starting lineup:

Simao; Alaba, Castro, Roux, Afonso; Aburjania, Veiga, Lucca, Piazon; Nene, Mercado

We say: Santa Clara 2-0 AVS

Santa Clara and AVS have enjoyed a solid start to the season and will head into Saturday looking to pick up from where they dropped off last weekend. Santa Clara won both home and away meetings between the sides last term and we are tipping them to come out on top in front of their home supporters.

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