Desportivo Aves vs Belenenses Predictions

• Belenenses have lost only two of their last seven matches in the Primeira Liga.
• Aves have fired blanks in three of their last five league games.
• Both teams have scored in only nine of Belenenses’ 24 matches in the top flight.

Aves staring down the barrel at relegation

Desportivo Aves are rooted to the foot of the Portuguese Primeira Liga standings and are predicted to endure more misery when they host Belenenses.

Hosts Aves have lost 19 of their 24 league assignments in Portugal’s top flight this season and have collected a paltry 13 points, leaving them were nine points adrift of safety before the season’s hiatus.

They have managed only two clean sheets at home in the league this season and have failed to score in six of their 12 matches at the Estádio do Clube Desportivo das Aves.

With issues at both ends of the pitch and caretaker manager Nuno Manta Santos in charge, they are unlikely to get anything from their upcoming contest.

Belenenses can rely on defensive solidity

Belenenses are not faring much better in the league this term but they have at least made themselves tough to beat and are currently on a four-match unbeaten run.

They have kept three successive clean sheets in the Primeira Liga against Famalicao, Marítimo and Rio Ave, who are in pursuit of a European place this season.

They have also kept four clean sheets on the road this campaign – a decent tally given that highflying Porto only had one more prior to the break in the season.

There is therefore minimal chance of Aves causing too many issues in the final third, especially given their over-reliance on Welinton Junior and Mehrdad Mohammadi, who have netted 14 of their 23 league goals this term.

Aves look permeable at the back

Aves’s matches have nonetheless featured an average of 2.92 goals per game this campaign, suggesting that they are conceding a lot.

They have, in fact, shipped 47 goals in their 24 league assignments this season, nearly two per match.

Of their four wins in the Primeira Liga in 2019/20, two have been against Marítimo and one was against Portimonense, both sides battling the drop as well. The other triumph was a shock 1-0 success over Braga, in which they lost the shot count 12-6 and had only 35 per cent possession. 

They are, nonetheless, the whipping boys of the division, losing four of their last five matches by two goals, conceding nine goals in their last three home encounters with Rio Ave, Vitoria Guimaraes and Pacos de Ferreira.

It is worth considering that Aves have lost their last three matches by two-goal margins while four of Belenenses’ last five assignments have featured under 2.5 goals, enhancing appeal about a low-scoring win for the away side. The best bet as far as a correct score prediction is concerned could be a 2-0 win.