The action continues in round 31 of the Portuguese Primeira Liga as Portimonense and Moreirense go head to head at the Estadio Municipal de Portimao on Sunday.
With just four games left to go, Os verdes e brancos are poised to secure a top-half finish, while the hosts find themselves scrambling for points in the relegation zone, one point away from safety.
Match preview
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Portimonense were left feeling somewhat disappointed last Sunday as they could only salvage a 1-1 draw with 10-man Famalicao when the sides squared off at the Estadio Municipal de Famalicao.
In a game where Justin De Haas received a 34th-minute red card, Jhonder Cadiz netted a second-half brace to cancel out Alemao's early opener and put the Vila Nova in front but Carlinhos converted his penalty in the 77th minute to force a share of the spoils.
Prior to that, Portimonense snapped their eight-game winless run on April 7 when they scrapped a 3-2 victory over Chaves at the Estadio Municipal Eng. Manuel Branco Teixeira, one week before playing out a goalless draw with 10-man Casa Pia on home turf.
Paulo Sergio's men have now picked up 28 points from their 30 Primeira Liga matches so far to sit 16th in the league table, one point behind 15th-placed Estrela Amadora just outside the relegation zone.
While victory on Sunday could see the Alvinegros move as high as 13th in the table, they have struggled to get going on home turf, where they are on a seven-game winless run, losing four and closing three draws since a 1-0 victory over Farense in January.
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Moreirense, on the other hand, failed to arrest their poor late-season form as they fell to a 1-0 defeat against Gil Vicente at the Parque de Jogos Comendador Joaquim de Almeida Freitas last Saturday.
Despite being in total control of the game and finishing with 70% of the ball possession, Moreirense were guilty of a lack of cutting-edge at the attacking end of the pitch as Mory Gbane's 38th-minute strike was enough to hand the Gilistas all three points.
Rui Borges's men have now gone four consecutive games without a win — picking up just one point from a possible 12 — their longest run of games without a win since failing to win seven straight between February and April 2022.
This drop-off in form has derailed Moreirense's push for European football as they now sit seventh in the Primeira Liga table, 19 points adrift of fourth-placed Braga in the Europa Conference League qualification spot.
However, Os verdes e brancos will be backing themselves to find their feet this weekend as they talk on a Portimonense side who have failed to win 13 of their last 16 encounters, losing nine and claiming four draws since July 2011.
Team News
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Portimonense will take to the pitch without the services of Brazilian forward Zinho, who has been sidelined since coming off injured against Arouca in February.
Midana Cassama was forced off injured inside the opening 30 minutes against Famalicao last weekend and the 21-year-old is out of contention for the hosts.
Carlinhos was involved in both goals against the Vila Nova last time out and the Brazilian midfielder, who has five goal involvements in his last three games, will be one to keep an eye on.
Moreirense, on the other hand, remain without the services of Senegalese defender Alhassane Sylla, who continues his lengthy spell on the sidelines.
He is joined on Os verdes e brancos' injury table by Portuguese forward Hernani Infande, who has missed the last four games through a muscle problem.
Portimonense possible starting lineup:
Nakamura, Guga, Henrique, Alemao, Relvas; Fukui, Ventura; Costa, Carlinhos, Varela; Monteiro
Moreirense possible starting lineup:
Secco; Silva, Ponck, Maracas, Frimpong; Franco, Alan, Ofori; Kodisang, Alessandro, Camacho
We say: Portimonense 2-1 Moreirense
The last five meetings between Portimonense and Moreirense have produced a combined 16 goals and we anticipate another action-packed contest at the Estadio Municipal de Portimao. With their season potentially resting on this result, we predict that Portimonense will come away with all three points against an out-of-sorts Moreirense side.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
