Seeking to make it six Primeira Liga wins on the bounce, Europe-chasing Vitoria de Guimaraes play host to SC Farense at the Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques on Saturday.
Having suffered a 2-1 defeat in December's reverse fixture, the visitors will head into the weekend looking to get one over Os Vimaranenses and pick up consecutive wins for the first time since November.
Match preview
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Vitoria de Guimaraes brought their run of 11 straight defeats against Porto to an end last Sunday when they secured an impressive 2-1 victory over the Dragoes in the second of their two consecutive cup-and-league meetings.
In a game where Pepe received his second straight red card of the season, an own goal from Wanderson Galeno and Jota Silva's 33rd-minute strike set the visitors on their way before Galeno halved the deficit on the stroke of half time.
Prior to that, Os Vimaranenses' dreams of a first Taca de Portugal title since 2013 suffered a huge blow on April 3 when they fell to a 1-0 loss against Porto in the first leg of their semi-final clash at the Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques.
However, with last weekend's victory, Vitoria de Guimaraes have now won five league games on the bounce since February's 2-0 loss against Casa Pia — a run which has put them on course to secure a place in Europe.
Alvaro Pacheco's men have picked up 17 wins and five draws in their 28 Primeira Liga matches to collect 56 points and sit sixth in the table, level with fourth-placed Braga and two behind third-placed Porto in the Europa League qualification spot.
Farense, on the other hand, finally stopped the rot as they picked up a 2-0 victory over Boavista when the two sides squared off at the Estadio de Sao Luis last Friday.
In an action-packed contest that saw a combined 34 shots fired between the two sides, Claudio Falcao and Bruno Duarte scored first-half goals to hand Os Axadrezados their 13th league defeat of the season.
This was a much-needed respite for Jose Mota's men, who had failed to win any of their previous nine matches, losing six and picking up three draws since a 3-1 victory at Casa Pia on January 20.
With just six games to go before the 2023-24 campaign draws to a close, Farense are currently ninth in the Primeira Liga standings, four points behind eighth-placed Famalicao, who have one game in hand.
While the Leoes de Faro will be looking to pick up consecutive wins for the first time since November, they have struggled to get going on their travels, where they have lost their last four matches since beating Casa Pia 3-1 in January.
Team News
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With his strike against Porto last time out, Jota Silva now has 21 goals and assists across all competitions this season and the 24-year-old forward will be one to keep an eye on.
Experienced midfielder Ricardo Mangas was forced off injured midway through the second half last weekend and the 26-year-old is a doubt for Saturday's game.
He is joined on Os Vimaranenses' injury table by Cape Verde midfielder Telmo Arcanjo, who has been sidelined since suffering a cruciate ligament tear in May 2023.
Portuguese defender Manuel Silva will also play no part in Saturday's game due to a one-game suspension after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season against Porto.
As for Farense, Mota will be unable to call upon the services of Brazilian goalkeeper Luiz Felipe, who is currently recuperating from a tendon injury.
Fellow countryman Fabricuo Isidoro is also out of contention for this weekend's matchup after crossing the yellow card threshold with his booking against Boavista last time out.
Vitoria de Guimaraes possible starting lineup:
Varela; Ribeiro, Borevkovic, Fernandes; Gaspar, Handel, T Silva, Mendes, Freitas; J Silva, Cesar
SC Farense possible starting lineup:
Velho; Pastor, Silva, Rossi, Talys; Falcao, Barbosa, Goncalves, Matias; Duarte, Balde
We say: Vitoria de Guimaraes 2-0 SC Farense
Vitoria de Guimaraes have hit their stride at the business end of the season and will head into the weekend with sky-high confidence. Pacheco's men take on a Farense side who have struggled to get going on the road and we see them coming away with all three points once again.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
