Preview: Santa Clara vs. Porto - prediction, team news, lineups

Looking to extend their lead at the summit of the Primeira Liga standings, Porto take a trip to the Estadio de Sao Miguel Stadium to take on Santa Clara on Sunday.

The hosts head into the game without a win in any of their most recent six league outings and will be looking to end this dry spell and move out of the relegation places.

Match preview

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Santa Clara were denied consecutive wins for the first time since August as they suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Belenenses at the Estadio Nacional do Jamor last Sunday.

In a clash between two bottom-dwellers, Allano restored parity from 12 yards to cancel out Safira's opener in the 90th minute, but Pedro Nuno scored three minutes later to hand O Belem their first win of the season.

Prior to that, Nuno Campos's side stunned Sunday's visitors to a 3-1 victory to move top of Group D of the Taca da Liga when the sides squared off last Tuesday.

Santa Clara head into this weekend's game winless in all but one of their 10 league games this term, picking up three draws and losing six, with a 1-0 win over Gil Vicente on August 29 being the only exception.

This poor start to the season sees Os Acoreanos sit rock bottom in the Primeira Liga standings and this has been down to their struggles at both ends of the pitch as they have scored just seven goals to date, while boasting the division's worst defensive record with 20 goals conceded.

While Santa Clara will be looking to end this poor run, they face the daunting task of going up against a rampant opposing side who have picked up eight wins from each of the last nine meetings between the sides.

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Porto, on the other hand, continue their charge to unseat reigning champions Sporting Lisbon as they cruised to a routine 4-1 victory over Boavista at the Estadio do Dragao last Saturday.

After Yanis Hamache struck on the half-hour mark to cancel out Luis Diaz's opener, Evanilson netted twice to put the hosts two goals up before English youngster Danny Loader opened his account for the club to complete the rout in the 96th minute.

This was followed by a 1-1 draw with Italian powerhouse AC Milan, where Chancel Mbemba scored a second-half own goal to cancel out Diaz's sixth-minute opener in Group B of the Champions League on Wednesday.

Porto head into Sunday's game on a blistering five-game winning streak and remain one of just two sides yet to taste defeat this season, picking up two draws and eight wins from 10 games.

In stark contrast to their hosts, the Dragoes boast the division's meanest attacking unit with 25 goals scored so far, while they have conceded just seven goals — with only Sporting Lisbon and Benfica shipping fewer.

Team News

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Ruben Oliveira remains unavailable for Santa Clara as the Portuguese midfielder continues his spell on the sidelines after picking up a long-term injury back in May.

Fellow countryman Costinha will also play no part in the game after the 29-year-old midfielder picked up an Achilles tendon injury against Moreirense back in August.

First-choice goalkeeper Marco Pereira was forced off at half time through injury against Belenenses last time out and should the 34-year-old fail a fitness test, Ricardo could come in for his second start of the season.

Allano opened his account for the season with his strike in the aforementioned game and we expect the Brazilian forward to handle business at the attacking end of the pitch once again.

Porto, on the other hand, will take to the pitch without Spanish defender Ivan Marcano and Colombian midfielder Mateus Uribe, who both came off with injuries in the game against Boavista last weekend.

Brazilian full-back Wendell is also out of contention for the Dragoes after picking up a knee injury in the game against Pacos de Ferreira back in October.

Santa Clara possible starting lineup:
Ricardo; Rodrigues, Gonzalez, Henrique, Mansur; Carvalho, Morita; Ricardinho, Lincoln, Allano, Patric

Porto possible starting lineup:
Marchesin; Corona, Pepe, Mbemba, Sanusi; Otavio, Oliveira, Grujic, Diaz; Evanilson, Taremi

We say: Santa Clara 0-3 Porto

Porto, who head into the game on a blistering run of results, surged to the top of the table last time out following their win over Boavista in their last outing. They are unbeaten in each of their 10 games so far and we predict they will ease to all three points this weekend as they take on an out-of-sorts Santa Clara side who are rooted to the bottom of the table.

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