The action continues in round 10 of the Portuguese Primeira Liga when Famalicao and Gil Vincente go head to head at the Estadio Municipal de Famalicao on Saturday.
Gil Vicente are currently unbeaten in each of their last four games against Joao Pedro Sousa's men and will head into the weekend looking to extend this dominant run.
Match preview
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Famalicao continue to struggle for consistency in the Primeira Liga as they fell to a 1-0 defeat against Estrela Amadora when the sides squared off at the Estadio Jose Gomes last Saturday.
In a game where Riccieli received an early bath, Flamengo loanee Andre Luiz came up clutch for the home side as he struck in the 74th minute to hand them a third consecutive victory across all competitions.
Prior to that, Famalicao saw their four-game unbeaten run in the Primeira Liga come to an end on October 8, when they suffered a 3-1 defeat against Vitoria de Guimaraes at the Estadio Municipal de Famalicao.
Sousa's men have now lost three of their nine league matches this season while picking up three wins and three draws to collect 12 points and sit eighth in the table.
Next up for Famalicao is an opposing side who they have failed to get the better of in their last four encounters, losing twice and claiming three draws since a 3-0 victory in April 2021.
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Gil Vicente, on the other hand, turned in a fine attacking display last Saturday when they played out a 3-3 draw with Braga in a six-goal thriller at the Estadio Cidade de Barcelos.
A second-half brace from Andre Horta and Simon Banza's 71st-minute effort saw Braga turn the game on its head after Roko Baturina and Maxime Dominguez had put the hosts two goals up, but substitute Roan Wilson struck two minutes after his introduction to face a share of the spoils.
This was a second consecutive comeback for Gil Vicente, when fought back from behind to scrap a 2-1 victory over Os Belenenses at the Estadio do Restelo in their Taca de Portugal third-round clash on October 22.
With last Saturday's result, Vitor Campelos's men have now failed to win three of their last league matches — losing twice and claiming on draw — with a 2-0 victory over Casa Pia on October 2 being the exception.
While Gil Vicente will be looking to return to winning ways, they have struggled for results away from home, where they are currently on a run of 10 consecutive defeats in the league, stretching back to a 2-1 victory over Porto on February 26.
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Famalicao will be without the services of Brazilian centre-back Ricelli, who is set to serve the first of his three-game suspension after picking up a red card against Estrela last time out.
In his absence, former PSV Eindhoven defender Justin De Haas should come into the fold this weekend, forming the defensive line with Nathan, Otavio and 24-year-old Francisco Moura.
As for Gil Vicente, they remain without the services of forward Ali Alipour, who has been sidelined since picking up an injury in February's game against Famalicao.
He is joined on the club's injury table by 32-year-old goalkeeper Stanislav Kritsyuk, who also continues his lengthy spell on the sidelines after picking up an injury back in February.
With his opener against Braga, Baturina now has three goal involvements in his last two matches and we expect the Croatian forward to lead the Gilistas attack once again, alongside Dominguez and Juventus loanee Felix Correia.
Famalicao possible starting lineup:
Junior, Nathan, De Haas, Otavio, Moura; Youssouf, Topic, Chiquinho; Sa, Aranda, Araujo
Gil Vicente possible starting lineup:
Oliveira; Carlos, Pereira, Fernandes, Buta; Neto, Tiba; Fujimoto, Dominguez, Correia; Baturina
We say: Famalicao 1-1 Gil Vicente
After a solid start to the season, Famalicao appear to have run out of steam in recent weeks and will head into the weekend in search of a pick-me-up. However, we predict that Gil Vicente will take the positives from their draw against Braga and end their losing streak away from home in the league.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
