Seeking to pick up a third Primeira Liga win on the bounce for the first time since February 2020, Boavista visit the Estadio dos Barreiros to take on Maritimo on Saturday.
The hosts, on the other hand, head into the game on a four-game winless run, and will be looking to end this dry spell and move into the top half of the league standings.
Match preview
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Maritimo suffered consecutive league defeats for the first time since November last Saturday when they were beaten 2-0 by a rejuvenated Pacos de Ferreira side.
Adrian Butzke opened the scoring at the Estadio Capital do Movel in the ninth minute before Nuno Santos scored on the half-hour mark to hand the Pacenses their third win in four games.
This followed a 3-1 home defeat at the hands of Tondela on April 3, when Salvador Agra, Rafael Barbosa and Tiago Dantas all hit the target to hand the CDT Auriverdes all three points.
O Maior das Ilhas have now failed to taste victory in four consecutive games, picking up one draw and losing three since a 1-0 win at Moreirense on March 6.
This drop-off in form has been owing to their recent toothless display at the attacking end of the pitch, where they have scored just twice while conceding seven in their last four outings.
Vasco Seabra's men have won eight, drawn nine and lost 12 of their 29 games this season to collect 33 points and sit 11th in the Primeira Liga standings, level on points with Sunday's hosts in 10th place.
Boavista, meanwhile, made it two wins from two for just the second time this season last time out when they edged out Arouca 1-0 on home turf.
In a cagey affair at the Estadio do Bessa, Curacao international Kenji Gorre struck in the 12th minute but it was enough to separate the sides and condemn the visitors to their 15th defeat of the season.
This followed a 2-1 victory at Famalicao on April 2, when Gustavo Sauer and Petar Musa scored first-half goals to end their three-game winless run at the Estadio Municipal de Famalicao.
Boavista head into the weekend unbeaten in four straight games away from home, claiming two wins and two draws since a 2-1 defeat at Santa Clara on February 1.
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Team News
Maritimo will take to the pitch without the services of Italian forward Stefano Beltrame after the 29-year-old came off injured in the game against Vitoria de Guimaraes on March 13.
Other than that, this weekend's hosts boast a clean bill of health and no suspension concerns, giving Seabra the luxury of a relatively full house at his disposal.
Meanwhile, manager Petit will be unable to call upon the services of French defender Yanis Hamache, who is set to sit out his fourth consecutive game through injury.
He is joined on the Os Axadrezados injury table by 23-year-old midfielder Miguel Reisinho, who has been out of action since last August through a knee injury.
Sauer, who has 12 goal involvements to his name this season, will play no part in Saturday's game after the 28-year-old forward recently completed a move to Brazilian outfit Botafogo.
Maritimo possible starting lineup:
Victor; Winck, M Costa, Junior, V Costa; Pelagio, Telles; Guitane, Sousa, Vidigal; Tagueu
Boavista possible starting lineup:
Bracali; Cannon, Porozo, Abascal; Ferreira, Vukotic, N Santos, Perez; Gorre, Musa, L Santos
We say: Maritimo 2-1 Boavista
With Maritimo and Boavista level on points in the league standings, we expect a thrilling contest with both sides having a go at each other in search of all three points. The visitors head into the game unbeaten in four consecutive away games and we predict they will come away with a slender victory against an out-of-sorts Maritimo side.
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 Maritimo win with a probability of 44.21%. A win for Boavista had a probability of 28.69% and a draw had a probability of 27.1%.
The most likely scoreline for a Maritimo win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.2%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.76%) and 2-0 (8.36%). The likeliest Boavista win was 0-1 (9.34%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.79%). The actual scoreline of 4-0 was predicted with a 1.3% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Maritimo would win this match.
