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

Following both sides' mixed starts to the Primeira Liga campaign, Tondela and Portimonense will square off at the Estadio Joao Cardoso on Sunday in league action.

The hosts thrashed Santa Clara 3-0 in their opening game but fell to a 2-1 defeat to Vizela last time out, while their visitors also got off to a winning start before being narrowly defeated in their second outing.

Match preview

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Tondela looked set for an impressive showing last season, as they spent large portions of the second half of the campaign in the top half, but a poor run of form in the final stretch saw them collect just two points from the last six games and drop to a 12th-placed finish as a result.

Having displayed positive signs at points over the course of that campaign, Pako Ayestaran's side will have headed into the new campaign with optimism, and despite being knocked out of the Taca da Liga following a 2-0 defeat to Gil Vicente in their first competitive game, they got off to a winning start in the top flight.

CDT Auriverdes played host to Santa Clara on the opening day, and a Daniel brace saw them lead 2-0 before Joao Pedro capped off a good day at the office by converting a penalty in the final 10 minutes.

Following that strong showing, they would have been confident of making it back-to-back wins as they took on newly-promoted Vizela last time out, but the game looked set to end level as Kiko equalised for their opponents after Daniel's opener, only for the hosts to snatch all three points thanks to Guilherme Schettine's 98th-minute winner.

They will look to quickly bounce back from the disappointment of conceding a late winner and losing to a newly-promoted side when they return to action on Sunday, and they take on a Portimonense side who will also hope for a return to winning ways.

Despite being in a battle at the bottom end of the table for the majority of last season, Portimonense produced a fine spell of results in March and April to drag themselves away from the bottom three, only for a poor run at the end of the campaign to pull them back down to 14th spot, just one point above the relegation playoff place.

They will certainly hope for a more comfortable campaign this time around, and they made the perfect start with a 1-0 away victory over Vitoria de Guimaraes, who finished seventh last season.

The game remained goalless until the 86th minute, when Beto found the net to fire his side to an impressive opening away win before they played host to Gil Vicente.

Again, neither side was able to break the deadlock until Samuel Lino put Os Gilistas ahead on the hour mark, and that goal would make the difference in a 1-0 win for the visitors.

Having failed to start with back-to-back victories, Paulo Sergio's men will look to make a return to winning ways on their travels on Sunday.

Team News

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Tondela's only doubt should be Manu, who was absent from the squad for the defeat to Vizela.

They confirmed the signing of left-back Neto Borges earlier in the week, but Naoufel Khacef should still be given the nod as the new recruit beds in.

The line will be led by Daniel, who has already hit three goals in the opening two league games of the campaign.

Portimonense's only absentee is experienced attacker Fabricio, who is ruled out through injury.

Aylton Boa Morte and Beto will certainly form two thirds of the front line, while Jafar Salmani could be recalled into the starting XI after he was an unused substitute last time out.

Further back, the defensive pairing of Willyan and Lucas Possignolo should remain untouched, having only conceded one goal in the first two games of the campaign.

Tondela possible starting lineup:
Trigueira; Bebeto, Goncalves, Quaresma, Khacef; Dantas, Augusto, Pedro; Murillo, Daniel, Agra

Portimonense possible starting lineup:
Samuel; Moufi, Possignolo, Willyan, Relvas; Fernandes, Sa, Carlinhos; Salmani, Beto, Boa Morte

We say: Tondela 1-1 Portimonense

We put these sides on a fairly level playing field heading into Sunday's game, albeit having with differing strengths.

The hosts look dangerous going forward while Portimonense have been strong defensively so far, setting up an intriguing clash that we see ending level.