Pacos de Ferreira head into their Primeira Liga encounter with Moreirense on Tuesday night hoping to win their third successive league match.
Meanwhile, Moreirense have won only one of their last six league matches, most recently suffering defeat at home to Sporting Lisbon.
Match preview
© Reuters
Moreirense came close to a surprise result in Lisbon on Saturday but the league leaders came from behind to secure a 2-1 victory.
After taking the lead in just the third minute through an own goal by Luis Neto, the hosts replied quickly with Pedro Goncalves scoring an equaliser just five minutes later.
Moreirense were holding on for a point until Goncalves scored his second of the match in the 75th minute to give Sporting Lisbon the lead and eventually the three points.
Cesar Peixoto's side now sit three points above the relegation zone in 11th place, but a victory on Tuesday would move them into the top half of the table and level on points with Pacos de Ferreira.
Pacos De Ferreira have been impressive in recent weeks and have gone five matches unbeaten in all competitions, scoring 12 goals in the process.
The Beavers came out on top against Famalicao on Saturday, with goals from Luther Singh and Ze Uilton securing a 2-0 home victory for Pepa's side.
Pacos, who have now won three home matches in a row, have yet to win away from the Estadio da Mata Real this season and face a Moreirense side who are unbeaten on their home turf.
The last time they beat Moreirense away from home was back in the 2012-13 campaign when they cruised to a 5-0 victory.
Securing the three points in midweek would see Pacos move up one place to fourth, two points behind Porto in second.
Moreirense Primeira Liga form: LDDWLL
Moreirense form (all competitions): DDWLWL
Pacos de Ferreira Primeira Liga form: LLWDWW
Pacos de Ferreira form (all competitions): LWDWWW
Team News
© Reuters
Moreirense forward Pedro Neto and left-back Pedro Amador are both ruled out long-term with torn ligament injuries, while midfielder Filipe Soares is unavailable after testing positive for coronavirus.
Striker Andre Luis, who started his first match of the season in the last game, could retain his place up front although Cesar Peixoto may choose to pick Fabio Abreu ahead of him.
Pacos de Ferreira boss Pepa could name the same starting lineup that beat Famalicao in their last match.
Striker Ze Uilton, who came off the bench to score on Friday, will be pushing to start ahead of Douglas Tanque.
Moreirense possible starting lineup:
Pasinato; D'Alberto, Rosic, Vitoria, Figueiredo; Pacheco; Pires, Franco, A. Soares, Walterson; Abreu
Pacos de Ferreira possible starting lineup:
Jordi; Fonseca, Marcelo, Baixinho, Reabciuk; Eustaquio; Ferreira, Carlos, Costa, Singh; Tanque
We say: Moreirense 1-1 Pacos de Ferreira
Moreirense are unbeaten in their last five home matches against Pacos de Ferreira, but with the visitors in good form, they could make it difficult for the home side on Tuesday night.
Top betting tip
Oliver Thomas
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 Pacos de Ferreira win with a probability of 43.02%. A win for Moreirense had a probability of 29.59% and a draw had a probability of 27.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Pacos de Ferreira win was 0-1 with a probability of 12.21%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.61%) and 0-2 (8.15%). The likeliest Moreirense win was 1-0 (9.67%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.9%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 12.2% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 0-1 win for Pacos de Ferreira in this match.
