Two sides in need of a morale-boosting win go head to head in the Primeira Liga as Portimonense play host to Boavista at the Estadio Municipal de Portimao on Saturday.
This will be the second meeting between the sides, who are both without a win in their last seven games across all competitions, after the spoils were shared in a 1-1 draw back in September's reverse fixture.
Match preview
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Portimonense continue to struggle for form in the Primeira Liga as they played out a 1-1 draw with Pacos de Ferreira at the Estadio Capital do Movel last time out.
After falling behind courtesy of Lucas Possignolo's 15th-minute own goal, Anderson Oliveira failed to level matters 12 minutes later as he saw his penalty saved by Andre Ferreira, but substitute Wellington Junior came up trumps for the visitors as he restored parity in the 91st minute.
Paulo Sergio's men have now failed to taste victory in any of their last seven games across all competitions, losing five and claiming two draws since seeing off Famalicao on penalties in the Taca de Portugal back in December.
With 26 points from 21 games, Portimonense are currently eighth in the Primeira Liga standings, eight points adrift of Gil Vicente in the final Conference League qualification spot.
Their struggles this season has been in no small part owing to their performances on home turf, where they have picked up just two wins and boast the league's third-worst record with nine points from 11 games.
Meanwhile, Boavista put on a resilient performance last time out when they came from behind twice to force a 2-2 draw with Vizela at the Estadio do Bessa.
Despite going one goal and one man down, they rallied in the second half as Yanis Hamache cancelled out Samu's first-half opener in the 57th minute, and after Samu struck his second of the game in the 68th minute, Peter Musa was on deck to level matters once again in the game two minutes later.
While manager Petit will feel satisfied with a share of the spoils, he will be somewhat disappointed not to have come away with all three points after Hamache failed to convert from 12 yards out and complete the comeback as he saw his late penalty go off target.
Boavista have now failed to win any of their last seven games in all competitions, picking up five draws and losing two, including a 2-1 defeat against Benfica in the semi-finals of the Taca da Liga on January 25.
With 20 points from 21 games, Os Axadrezados are currently 13th in the league standings, level on points with Tondela and two above Arouca in the relegation playoff spot.
However, Boavista will feel confident of ending this dry spell as they go up against an opposing side who they are unbeaten against in each of the last four meetings between the sides since 2020, claiming three wins and one draw in that time.
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Team News
Portimonense will take to the pitch without the services of Moroccan full-back Achraf Lazaar, who has been out of action since last September through a fibula injury.
Junior, who recently completed a loan switch from Shonan Bellmare, announced himself in style last time out when he found the target 15 minutes into his debut and we expect the Brazilian forward to push for a starting role this Saturday.
Should that be the case, we expect to see the 28-year-old team up with fellow new signing Ricardo Matos and Porto loanee Shoya Nakajima at the attacking end of the pitch.
Boavista, meanwhile, remain without the services of Portuguese youngster Pedro Malheiro, who sustained an injury in November's game against Arouca.
He is joined on the club's injury table by fellow countryman Miguel Reisinho after the midfielder picked up a severe knee problem back in August.
Twenty-two-year-old forward Luis Santos received his marching orders in the game against Vizela last time out and is out of contention for Os Axadrezado.
Portimonense possible starting lineup:
Samuel; Possignolo, Pedrao, Rocha, Gomes; Fernandes, Oliveira, Angulo; Nakajima, Junior, Matos
Boavista possible starting lineup:
Bracali; Ilori, Porozo, Abascal; Santos, Hamache, Makouta, Perez, Gorre; Gorre, Musa, Sauer
We say: Portimonense 1-2 Boavista
Saturday's game sees two struggling sides in the Primeira Liga square off and we expect them to take the game to each other in search of a morale-boosting win. However, Boavista have won three of their last four encounters and we predict this trend will continue with them picking up their second away win of the season on Saturday.
Top tip
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 Portimonense win with a probability of 50.92%. A draw had a probability of 26.9% and a win for Boavista had a probability of 22.14%.
The most likely scoreline for a Portimonense win was 1-0 with a probability of 14.67%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.53%) and 2-1 (8.9%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.4%), while for a Boavista win it was 0-1 (8.65%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 12.4% likelihood.
