David Flower
Dailysports's expert
Rio Ave
Santa Clara
One of the matches of the 30th round of the Portuguese Championship will be played on Friday in Vila do Conde, where the local team Rio Ave will host Santa Clara. We suggest betting on goals in this clash with a good chance of success.
Match preview
Rio Ave is still afloat in the Primeira, remaining a solid mid-table team. The team from the Atlantic coast is currently in 12th place, trailing Nacional only by secondary indicators. The team led by Petit seems to have confidently secured themselves from the threat of relegation, with a nine-point gap from the survival playoff zone.
However, the current stretch of the season has not been the brightest for Rio Ave. In the championship, the team lost four consecutive matches: narrowly losing to Famalicão (0-1), delivering a fighting match against Benfica (2-3), but again ending up with nothing, then failing against Casa Pia (1-2) and shamefully losing at home to the bottom-dweller Boavista (0-2). They managed to break this series only last weekend when they defeated Moreirense away (2-0).
Santa Clara started the new season without much pressure and high ambitions, but under Vasco Matos, the team is presenting a pleasant surprise. The islanders confidently passed the first half of the campaign and are deservedly holding onto the upper part of the table.
Currently, the club is settled in sixth place, but they are already 13 points behind Porto, who are in fourth place. In the last round, Santa Clara hosted the leading Sporting and the Azoreans put up a fight, losing 0-1. The earlier defeat to Vitória Guimarães (0-2) was also disappointing, as they are a competitor in the battle for fifth place.
Probable lineups
- Rio Ave: Miszta - Tomé, Panzo, N'Toyi, Richards - André Luís, Graça, Tyknaz, Aguilera - Clayton, Poulman
- Santa Clara: Batista, Nunes, Mateusinho, Lima, Pereira, Ferreira, Borges, Kalila, Silva, Lopes, Soares
Match facts and head-to-head
- In the first round, Santa Clara defeated their opponent 1-0 at home
- The "Total over 2.5" bet was successful in one out of five matches
- The "Both teams to score" bet was successful in one out of five matches
Prediction
Bookmakers give a slight advantage to the guests and estimate Santa Clara's victory at odds of 2.30. Considering the head-to-head statistics, we suggest taking "Total under 2.5" at odds of 1.60.
