Preview: Chaves vs. Santa Clara
Round 12 of the Portuguese Primeira Liga comes to an end at the Estadio Municipal Eng. Manuel Branco Teixeira where Chaves and Santa Clara go head to head on Monday.
Os Acoreanos will head into the game seeking to get one over the home side, having failed to win any of the last three meetings between the teams since October 2018.
Chaves were sent crashing down to earth in the Primeira Liga as they suffered a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of high-flying Benfica when the sides squared off last Saturday.
Roger Schmidt’s side ran riot at the Estadio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica as David Neres, Alejandro Grimaldo, Goncalo Ramos, Petar Musa and Rafa Silva all found the back of the net to hand the hosts a resounding victory.
Prior to that, Chaves were on a run of two consecutive league victories, beating Braga 1-0 on October 9 to end their four-game winless run before claiming 3-1 win over 10-man Gil Vicente two weeks later.
Vitor Campelos’ men, who now head home where they are unbeaten in their last four outings, have now picked up four wins, three draws and lost four of their 11 league matches to collect 15 points and sit 11th in the Primeira Liga standings.
Santa Clara, on the other hand, turned in a resilient team performance at the Estadio de Sao Miguel where they fought back from behind to salvage a 1-1 draw against reigning champions Porto last weekend.
Despite being under the cosh for most of the game and seeing just 35% of the ball possession, Kennedy Boateng struck in the 83rd minute to cancel out Fabio Cardoso’s third-minute opener and force a share of the spoils.
This followed a hard-fought 1-0 victory over 10-man Vizela at the Estadio do FC Vizela on October 23, when Bruno Almeida netted with three minutes left on the clock to end their four-game winless run.
Mario Silva’s side, who secured an impressive seventh-placed finish in the league last season, are currently 15th in the standings, level on nine points with 16th-placed Gil Vicente in the relegation playoff spot.
Santa Clara’s underwhelming start to the campaign has been down to their struggles on the road, where they have managed just one win in 13 league games since the start of February, losing seven and claiming five draws in that time.
While Os Acoreanos will be looking to return to winning ways and steer clear of the drop zone, they take a trip to the Estadio Municipal Eng. Manuel Branco Teixeira, where they have lost four and picked up one draw since a 3-0 victory in March 2010.
Chaves Primeira Liga form:
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Chaves form (all competitions):
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Santa Clara Primeira Liga form:
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Santa Clara form (all competitions):
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We say: Chaves 1-2 Santa Clara
Fresh off the back of a solid display against Porto, Santa Clara will head into Monday with sky-high confidence as they look to end their winless run against Chaves. While we expect the hosts to put up a fight, we are backing Silva’s men to take the positives from their draw against the league champions and claim a narrow victory.