Gil Vicente vs Rio Ave Predictions

• Rio Ave have won three of their last six competitive and non-competitive matches against Gil Vicente.
• Gil Vicente have lost four of their last five league games.
• Rio Ave have won three of their last five league games.
• Both teams have scored in four of Gil Vicente’s and five of Rio Ave’s last six matches.

Rio Ave have performed much better on the road than at home this season

Gil Vicente suffered a 2-1 defeat at Sporting on Wednesday night and the gap between themselves and the team above them, Santa Clara, is now up to 5pts. Rio Ave claimed a third win in four matches on Tuesday when they ran out 4-3 winners in a seven-goal thriller at home to fellow European hopefuls Braga.

When these two sides locked horns for their reverse league fixture in December a solitary penalty from Taremi proved enough for Rio Ave to claim all 3pts but later that month Gil Vicente would have their revenge, when a stoppage-time strike from Lima would see Gil Vicente progress through to the next round of the Taca da Liga at the expense of Rio Ave.

Gil Vicente are still in a relegation battle despite occupying 11th place

Our prediction for a Rio Ave win this weekend is based largely on the form of the two clubs heading into Sunday’s clash, their recent head to head record and their performances at home and on the road in the Primeira Liga. Rio Ave have won three of their last six league, cup and friendly matches against Gil Vicente and head into their latest encounter as the form favourites with three wins from their last five league games.

Gil Vicente have impressed in their first season back in the top flight but June saw the newly-promoted club lose three of their four matches and July has started with a defeat as well. The host shave lost three times at home this season but it is the visitors’ impressive away record, eight wins from 14 matches, that provide the true basis for our prediction for Saturday’s clash.

We’re expecting a close and competitive 90-minutes in Barcelos

As for a final scoreline, we’re predicting a narrow 2-1 win for Rio Ave as their hosts don’t tend to concede many goals at home but have conceded two or more goals in three of their last four Primeira Liga matches. Rio Ave score an average of 1.36 goals per away game and concede 0.86 goals and with the hosts’ netting an average of 1.36 goals per home game, we believe that the visitors will need to goals in order to claim all 3pts this weekend. Both teams have scored in 57% of Gil Vicente’s home games and over 2.5 goals have been produced in each of the hosts’ last four outings as well as in four of Rio Ave’s last five matches, which ties in nicely with our 2-1 prediction.

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