Gil Vicente and Boavista get their 2021-22 Primeira Liga campaign underway with a fixture at Estadio Cidade de Barcelos on Monday night.
Both teams were satisfied with avoiding relegation last season, eventually finishing in 11th and 13th place respectively.
Match preview
While two decades have now passed since Boavista's glory years at the turn of the Millennium, they did not necessarily expect to be scraping to remain in the top flight throughout last season.
Boavista prevailed in just eight of their 34 league contests, but closing the campaign with victories over Portimonense and Monday's opponents ultimately kept them among Portuguese football's elite.
With last season's star man Angel Gomes now back at parent club Lille, the chances are that Os Axadrezados will be delighted if they stay out of trouble and claim a mid-table spot.
Nevertheless, new boss Joao Pedro Sousa will have higher expectations, particularly with his team having won each of their Taca de Liga fixtures in recent weeks.
Successive shutouts were recorded against Maritimo and Portimonense with 17-year-old Tiago Morais stealing the headlines with a double in the latter game.
Performance-wise, Gil Vicente can have no complaints in the same competition having defeated Tondela and claimed a draw with Pacos de Ferreira during normal time.
However, the penalty-shootout defeat at Estadio da Mata Real has left the club out of the tournament, leaving Ricardo Soares with work to do to lift his squad.
On a positive note, they have found stability in the top flight over the past two seasons, giving them the platform to push for the top six this time around.
New arrival Bilel Aouacheria has started well in his bid to revive his career by netting in the meeting with Pacos de Ferreira.
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Team News
Having held last season's fifth-placed side in the Taca de Liga, Sousa may be prepared to stick with the same Gil Vicente XI.
Murilo de Souza and Matheus Bueno are alternatives in wide areas if Sousa decides to introduce fresh legs.
However, Antoine Leautey and Joao Afonso have both been ruled out of this contest through injury.
On the back of a 2-0 victory over Portimonense, Soares is unlikely to make major alterations to his Boavista side.
Morais is in line to retain his spot on the right flank, playing in front of Pedro Malheiro who should get the nod over Reggie Cannon.
Filipe Ferreira may feature at left-back now that Ricardo Mangas has left for Bordeaux.
Gil Vicente possible starting lineup:
Kritsyuk; Carlos, Cunha, Fernandes, Talocha; Carvalho; Aouacheria, Fujimoto, Pedrinho, Lino; Navarro
Boavista possible starting lineup:
Bracali; Malheiro, Garcia, Porozo, Ferreira; Morais, Perez, Reymao, Hamache; Njie, Santos
We say: Gil Vicente 1-1 Boavista
While both teams will want to improve on last season's efforts, avoiding defeat in their opening game will be a top priority. With that in mind, we are predicting a low-scoring draw, a result which may satisfy Boavista slightly more than their hosts.
Top tip
Darren Plant
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Gil Vicente win with a probability of 45.63%. A draw had a probability of 28.9% and a win for Boavista had a probability of 25.51%.
The most likely scoreline for a Gil Vicente win was 1-0 with a probability of 14.95%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.48%) and 2-1 (8.24%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (13%), while for a Boavista win it was 0-1 (10.26%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Gil Vicente would win this match.
