Santa Clara's quest for European football goes down to the wire as they play host to Famalicao at the Estadio de Sao Miguel in the penultimate game of the 2024-25 Primeira Liga campaign on Saturday.
The hosts won the two meetings between the two sides this season, including a 1-0 victory in the Taca de Portugal in November, and will be looking to do the three-peat against the Vila Nova this weekend.
Match preview
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Santa Clara suffered a fresh blow in their push for a top-five finish as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Braga when the two sides met at the Estadio Municipal de Braga last Saturday.
Portuguese midfielder Ricardinho gave the visitors a dream start to the contest with a fine finish in the sixth minute but Ricardo Horta struck two minutes after the half-time break to hand Braga a share of the spoils.
Prior to that, Santa Clara snapped their run of four back-to-back league games without a win on April 26 when they edged out Arouca 2-0 on home turf courtesy of a first-half brace from Ricardinho.
Vasco Matos's men have won 15 of their 32 Primeira Liga games so far while losing 11 and claiming six draws to collect 51 points and sit sixth in the standings, three points behind fifth-placed Vitoria de Guimaraes in the Conference League qualifying spot.
Having gained promotion from the Segunda Liga last term, Santa Clara gave their defence to thank for their impressive performance this season as they have conceded just 30 goals so far — only the first four teams in the table (Sporting Lisbon (26), Benfica (26), Porto (29) and Braga (27) have allowed fewer.
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On the other hand, Famalicao have imploded at the business end of the season as they found themselves on the receiving end of a 2-1 defeat against Farense at the Estadio de Sao Luis last Saturday.
For the second consecutive game, the Vila Nova let their lead slip away as Felipe Soares netted on the stroke of half time to cancel out Simon Elisor's 30th-minute opener before Dario Poveda struck in the 91st minute to complete the comeback.
Famalicao have failed to win any of their most recent three matches, losing twice and claiming one draw while conceding five and scoring three, having won each of the three matches preceding this run.
Having clinched eighth-place in the table last season, Hugo Oliveira's men are on course for another top-half finish this term as they sit seventh in the table with 44 points from 32 matches, eight points above 10th-placed Rio Ave.
Famalicao will be backing themselves to bounce back this weekend as they journey to the Estadio de Sao Miguel, where they have won each of their last four visits, scoring nine goals and conceding two since 2-0 defeat in their Segunda Liga clash back in April 2018.
Team News
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Santa Clara will take to the pitch without the duo of Matheus Pereira and 33-year-old William Rocha, who are currently suspended due to accumulated yellow cards.
On the injury front, Matos will be unable to name Portuguese defender Pedro Pacheco, who continues his lengthy spell on the sidelines, having suffered a cruciate ligament injury back in August.
Brazilian defender Matheus Araujo was forced off injured against Braga last time out and the 24-year-old is a major doubt for this weekend's clash.
As for Famalicao, Angolan international Pedro Bondo is out of contention for the trip to the Estadio de Sao Miguel due to suspension after picking up a red card against Farense last time out.
Twenty-year-old Yassir Zabiri is currently on duty with the Moroccan Under-20 team at the ongoing CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations and will play no part in Sunday's game.
Santa Clara possible starting lineup:
Batista; Lima, Venancio, Nunes; Calila, Firmino, Araujo, Ferreira; Ricardinho, Costa, Silva
Famalicao possible starting lineup:
Carevic; Pinheiro, De Haas, Realpe, Soares; Topic, Van de Looi; Sorriso, Sa, Aranda; Elisor
We say: Santa Clara 2-1 Famalicao
With just two games to go, Santa Clara know they must avoid any slip-ups as they look to leapfrog Vitoria de Guimaraes and secure the Conference League qualifying ticket. While Famalicao ave enjoyed success in their recent visits to the Estadio de Sao Miguel, we predict Matos's side will go all out this weekend and come away with a narrow victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
