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NederlandGil Vicente will be hoping to escape the Primeira Liga bottom three on Saturday when they welcome Santa Clara to the Estadio Cidade de Barcelos.
Meanwhile, the visitors will be looking to return to winning ways, after they suffered their first league defeat in five games last time out.
Match preview
© Reuters
The home side currently find themselves in 16th spot in the Primeira Liga table, occupying the relegation playoff place, while they remain only one point ahead of Boavista and Famalicao, who sit in the automatic relegation zone.
That is largely down to their struggling attack, with only Belenenses scoring fewer than their 15 goals from 19 Primeira Liga games this season.
Since their important 2-1 win over Boavista, which lifted Gil Vicente out of the relegation zone, Ricardo Soares's side have lost two consecutive matches, seeing them drop back down to third bottom.
Firstly, Os Gilistas fell to a narrow 2-1 defeat at home to league leaders Sporting Lisbon, having led for most of the match through Kanya Fujimoto, until Sporting defender Sebastian Coates netted a late brace to snatch all the points from Soares's side.
That result could still offer some positives for Gil Vicente, having held their own against a side marching towards the Primeira Liga title.
However, their most recent result was much more concerning for Soares, when his side were thrashed 4-1 away at Portimonense, who sat level on points with them prior to the game.
Os Gilistas had a nightmare start, when Mauricio Antonio put the hosts ahead from a corner after just 45 seconds, however Samuel Lino levelled the match with a penalty, before Portimonense raced out of sight, thanks to goals from Jafar Salmani, Aylton Boa Morte and Beto.
Soares will undoubtedly be desperate for a reaction from his side in this game, when they welcome Santa Clara, who will also be looking to return to winning ways.
The visitors fell to a narrow 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Braga last time out, with Cristian Borja netting the only goal of the match.
That result put an end to a good league run for Daniel Ramos's side, which saw them remain unbeaten in four Primeira Liga games, picking up 10 points out of a possible 12.
Before the Braga defeat, Os Acoreanos came from behind to defeat Maritimo 2-1 away from home, with goals from Crysan and Carlos sealing their seventh league win of the season, just four fewer than they managed last campaign.
As a result, Ramos's side now sit eighth in the Primeira Liga table, level on points with seventh-placed Moreirense, who play on Friday night.
Gil Vicente Primeira Liga form: LLLWLL
Gil Vicente form (all competitions): LLLWLL
Santa Clara Primeira Liga form: LWWDWL
Santa Clara form (all competitions): WLWDWL
Team News
Gil Vicente should have a full squad to pick from for this game, other than young forward Miullen, who remains out with a knee injury.
Their line will be led by Samuel Lino, who has five Primeira Liga goals this season, including two in his last three matches.
Quentin Beunardeau was handed his first league start of the season in net for Gil Vicente last time out, but after the French goalkeeper conceded four goals, Denis could take back his starting place for this match.
Ricardo Soares could make more changes to the side which was comfortably beaten by Portimonense, with several players potentially at risk of being dropped.
Santa Clara remain without midfielder Julio Romao and centre-back Cristian Gonzalez, with neither player featuring since the turn of the year with injuries.
Meanwhile, Crysan was also absent from the squad in the last match, having found the net in the previous game.
They will also be missing important defender Mikel Villanueva, who serves a suspension after he was shown his fifth yellow card of the season last time out.
In his absence, Joao Afonso could come into the side, alongside Fabio Cardoso at the centre of the Santa Clara back line.
Ramos added to his side in January, bringing in Hidemasa Morita, who has made five league appearances in midfield since arriving in Portugal, with one goal.
Gil Vicente possible starting lineup:
Denis; Paulinho, Rodrigao, Fernandes, Gomes; Pedrinho, Mineiro, Goncalves; Fujimoto, Lino, Lourency
Santa Clara possible starting lineup:
Marco; Ramos, Cardoso, Afonso, Mansur; Carvalho, Morita; Carlos, Lincoln, Salomao; Moghanlou
We say: Gil Vicente 0-2 Santa Clara
We can see the visitors recording a fairly comfortable victory here, taking advantage of a Gil Vicente side who will be lacking confidence after a disappointing loss last time out.
Although Soares will demand a reaction following the heavy defeat to Portimonense on Sunday, we do not think they have enough to change their fortunes with a win over a strong Santa Clara side on Friday, and predict a victory for the visitors.
