Santa Clara vs Famalicao Predictions

Santa Clara picked up a morale-boosting 1-0 win in the Taca da Liga against Belenenses last week while their guests this Saturday, Famalicao, were defeated in the very same competition by lower league opponents Sporting Covilha.

The stats suggest that Santa Clara will pick up all three points from Saturday’s season opener, despite the fact that Famalicao have been in decent form over the last six weeks. Santa Clara have won six of their nine previous encounters against Famalicao, with four of those six victories arriving in the pair’s last six meetings.

In terms of a final score, we’re leaning towards a 2-1 victory in favour of the hosts because four of the pairs’ last six encounters have seen both teams score and over 2.5 goals, and three of those six meetings have ended 2-1. Santa Clara have won three of their last six matches, only losing once, have scored no more than two goals in any of those matches and have managed to keep just two clean sheets during that period.

Santa Clara possess the better of the two squads on paper and their guests have signed a lot of young players and have seen a lot of experienced heads leave the club, which ultimately could prove their undoing this season. Santa Clara raised some decent money with the sale of Kaio to the Russian side Krasnodar but have only brought in a series of free transfers during the summer.

We’re confident that Santa Clara will win on Saturday and have predicted a final scoreline of 2-1. The hosts are the bookmakers’ favourites against their newly-promoted guests, head into the game as the form favourites, and are looking to make it four straight wins this weekend. However, Famalicao have been playing well of late and carry an unknown threat that often applies to newly promoted clubs that haven’t played in the top flight for a few years, so we expect the visitors to have their chances during the ninety minutes.