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

Santa Clara welcome Tondela to the Estadio de Sao Miguel on Saturday, with seven points and three teams separating the sides in the middle of the Primeira Liga table.

The hosts will be looking to build on a win over Portimonense last time out, while Tondela will be hoping to bounce back from two consecutive league defeats.

Match preview

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Santa Clara got back to winning ways last time out, as Rui Costa and Carlos fired them to a 2-0 victory at home to 12th-placed Portimonense.

Before that, Daniel Ramos's side travelled to the Estadio Jose Alvalade to take on league leaders Sporting Lisbon, and they looked set to snatch a point when Costa netted an 84th-minute equaliser after Pedro Goncalves's opener.

However, they would suffer late heartbreak as Sporting captain Sebastian Coates headed in the winner in the third minute of added time to send Santa Clara home empty-handed.

Despite the disappointment of conceding a late goal, Os Acoreanos can definitely be encouraged by a performance which saw them hold the league's strongest side for the majority of the encounter.

That, combined with two wins from their last three games, should provide plenty of positives for Ramos and his side, as they look to cement themselves in the top half of the Primeira Liga.

That will not be made easy for them, though, as Tondela will be in search of a win of their own after back-to-back losses in the top flight.

Pako Ayestaran's side fell to a narrow defeat at the hands of Sporting Lisbon last time out, as Tiago Tomas netted the only goal of the game in the 81st minute.

Similarly to Santa Clara, a narrow defeat to the league leaders is by no means a devastating result, and could provide a platform to build on going forward.

However, the previous defeat to Portimonense was much more concerning, as a Beto brace and an Aylton Boa Morte goal fired the 12th-placed outfit to a dominant 3-0 win.

While they do sit in a mid-table spot, Ayestaran's side now have just a three-point cushion between themselves and Boavista in the relegation playoff place, while they remain just four points ahead of the automatic drop zone.

As a result, CDT Auriverdes will be desperate for a result in this game to restore that more comfortable gap, and allow themselves to switch their attention back to the search for a top-half spot in a packed mid-table battle.

Team News

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Santa Clara will be without midfielder Nene, who will serve a suspension after he picked up his fifth yellow card of the season last time out.

However, Anderson Carvalho will return from his suspension to fill the gap left in midfield.

That midfield has been hit by several injuries, with both Costinha and Julio Romao remaining on the sidelines.

Tondela have managed to maintain a fairly fit squad this season, with right-back Bebeto being the only absentee through injury for this game.

Their line will be led by Mario Gonzalez, who leads CDT Auriverdes' scoring charts with six league goals this campaign.

Santa Clara possible starting lineup:
Marco; Ramos, Cardoso, Villanueva, Mansur; Morita, Carvalho, Lincoln; Carlos, Crysan, Allano

Tondela possible starting lineup:
Trigueira; Almeida, Tavares, Suarez, Khachef; Olabe, Grau, Pedro; Murillo, Gonzalez, Agra

We say: Santa Clara 1-1 Tondela

While Santa Clara do come into this game in a better run of form, we see the sides splitting the points as Tondela will be desperate for a positive result to help them feel more comfortable in the middle of the table.

The hosts do possess the attacking quality to pick up all three points, but we expect CDT Auriverdes to battle hard for a crucial away point.