Preview: Belenenses vs. Tondela - prediction, team news, lineups

Fresh off the back of ending their run of five straight defeats, Tondela visit the Estadio Nacional do Jamor to take on Belenenses on Sunday.

The hosts, who have had a rough start to the season, will be keen to pick up their first league victory and rise from the bottom of the Primeira Liga standings.

Match preview

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Belenenses pulled off an impressive comeback last Monday when they fought from two goals down to salvage a draw against Pacos de Ferreira at the Estadio Capital do Movel.

In a thrilling and end-to-end contest, goals from Nuno Santos and Helder Ferreira put the hosts in a comfortable two-goal lead heading into the interval, but O Belem upped the ante in the second half as Alioune Ndour pulled one back on the hour mark before Safira restored parity 16 minutes later.

This was a fourth draw on the trot for Petit's side, who are one of just two sides yet to taste victory after seven rounds of matches in the division.

Belenenses are currently 17th in the Primeira Liga standings, one point above rock-bottom Famalicao, and their early struggles has been owing to their misfiring frontmen, who have scored the joint-fewest goals in the league with five.

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Tondela, on the other hand, claimed an impressive comeback victory last time out when they saw off Famalicao 3-2 at the Estadio Joao Cardoso.

John Murillo put the hosts in front shortly after the half-hour mark before Ivan Jamie and Adrian Marin struck to help Famalicao turn the game on its head, but Juan Manuel Boselli and Renat Dadasov scored in the final 12 minutes of the game to restore the Auriverdes' lead.

Prior to that, Pako Ayestaran's men were on a dire run of five consecutive defeats, scoring four goals while shipping 12 since a 3-0 win over Santa Clara in their league opener on August 8.

The Spanish manager will now hope the win last time out can serve as a springboard for a fine run of form as his side could move into the top half of the league standings with another win this weekend.

However, they face the tricky test of going up against an opposing side whom they have failed to defeat in each of their last seven attempts since 2018, picking up three draws and losing four, including each of their two encounters last season.

Team News

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Belenenses will have to cope without the services of experienced midfielder Sandro after the 32-year-old picked up an injury in pre-season.

O Belem have no other concerns on the injury front and following his side's impressive performance against Pacos de Ferreira last time out, Petit could name a similar starting XI this weekend.

The Portuguese manager opted for a 3-5-2 formation in the aforementioned game, meaning we could see a pairing of Safira and Ndour in attack for the second game running.

Meanwhile, Jota Goncalves is out of contention for Tondela after the Portuguese youngster ruptured his knee ligament in the game versus Estoril Praia on September 13.

With his brace of assists against Famalicao last weekend, Neto Borges now has three in his last three outings and the Genk loanee could cause the hosts lots of problems on the left flank.

Renat Dadasov, who is on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers, displaced Daniel dos Anjos in the starting XI in the aforementioned game, and with a return of two goals in his last two games, the 22-year-old forward could be given the nod by Ayestaran once again.

Belenenses possible starting lineup:
Felipe; Carraca, Ribeiro, Phete, Akas, Varela; Camacho, Boni, Coelho, Sousa; Safira

Tondela possible starting lineup:
Niasse; Borges, Manu, Khacef, Almeida; Undabarrena, Augusto; Murillo, Pedro, Agra; Dadasov

We say: Belenenses 1-1 Tondela

With just two points and three places separating Belenenses and Tondela in the lower echelons of the table, this game has all the makings of an absorbing contest. Both sides will look to carry on the momentum from their respective comebacks last time out and we anticipate they will cancel out each other's efforts and settle for a share of the spoils.