Santa Clara vs Nacional Predictions

Santa Clara and Nacional both picked up much needed wins last weekend after recent poor runs of form, most notably Nacional who were thrashed 10-0 by Benfica and responded with a 4-0 win over struggling Feirense. Santa Clara are, for now, safe in mid table, but due to how tight things are in the bottom half of the Primeira Liga a couple of bad results has everyone looking over their shoulder.

A twenty-seventh minute Fábio Cardoso strike looked to have given Santa Clara a halftime lead over Rio Ave, but the hosts hit back in stoppage time to send the teams in level at the break. Against the run of play the visitors scored what turned out to be the winning goal in the sixty-forth minute via Guilherme Schettine, but with just 37% of the overall possession Santa Clara were a little lucky. The Nacional players had to show a response following their 10-0 defeat against Benfica, and they did with Rashidov taking home the match ball after scoring a hat trick in a comfortable 4-0 win over Feirense.

The history between the two clubs and their results heading into Sunday’s match all point towards there being goals in this game. Six of the last seven meetings between these two clubs have produced over 2.5 goals, while at least three goals have been scored in two of Santa Clara’s last three and four of Nacional’s last five matches. The visitors have won three of the last six meetings between the pair, so despite sitting below Santa Clara in the table Nacional might just fancy their chances on Sunday. It’s difficult to know how either side is going to perform with both winning last weekend, but the manner of Nacional’s win suggests that wake up call Benfica handed them might just have been the motivation they needed to put a good run of form together.

Zé Manuel top scores for the hosts with six goals in the Primeira Liga this season, while Rochez still leads the way in front of goal for Nacional with nine scored so far. We’re confident that over 2.5 goals will be scored in Sunday’s match, and have backed a final scoreline of 2-1 to Nacional. Neither side has form in their favour, but Nacioanl’s 4-0 win last weekend is bound to give the visitors a huge confidence boost along with their decent head to head record against Santa Clara which has produced three wins from their last six encounters.