Gil Vicente and SC Farense do battle in league action on Saturday, with a win potentially lifting the visitors out of the automatic drop zone.

The away side currently sit in 17th spot in the Primeira Liga table, four points adrift of automatic safety, while their hosts occupy 13th spot with five points between themselves and the bottom two.

Match preview

Gil Vicente suffered a second consecutive defeat last time out, as they travelled to take on Belenenses.

Os Gilistas led through Pedro Marques, but Afonso Sousa netted the equaliser early in the second half, before Francisco Teixeira popped up with the winner in the 91st minute to send Ricardo Soares's side home empty-handed.

Before that, they suffered a much more disappointing defeat away at Famalicao, as an Ivan Jaime brace and a Leonardo Campana goal condemned Gil Vicente to a 3-0 defeat.

However, a solid run of results in March and early April has seen Os Gilistas put some crucial distance between themselves and the threat of relegation, now sitting in 13th spot with a five-point gap from the automatic drop zone.

Soares will know that they are not safe yet though, especially considering Farense would reduce the gap between the two sides to just two points with a win on Saturday.

As a result, they will be desperate to get back to winning ways to increase their cushion and go one step closer to confirming their safety.

Farense come into this game in a somewhat encouraging run, having picked up four points from their last two league outings.

However, they may feel slightly disappointed with their result last time out, as they led 1-0 against Portimonense through Pedro Henrique, until Aylton Boa Morte equalised for the 11th-placed outfit with 10 minutes to go.

Before that, Jorge Costa's side broke a three-game losing run with an impressive 2-0 victory over fifth-placed Pacos de Ferreira.

The game remained goalless until Os Leoes de Faro won a penalty in the 77th minute, which Ryan Gauld converted before Fabricio Isidoro added a second in the final five minutes to seal a huge victory.

As a result of their recent improvement, Farense have given their survival hopes a boost, now sitting just two points behind Boavista in the relegation playoff place and four points adrift of automatic safety.

With 15 points left to play for, Costa's men will need to continue picking up results if they are to stand a chance of avoiding the drop, starting with what would be a crucial win on Saturday to reduce the gap between themselves and Gil Vicente to just two points.

Team News

Gil Vicente will welcome centre-back Ygor Nogueira back to action after his suspension last time out.

He could take his spot back from Rodrigao, who deputised alongside Ruben Fernandes in the 2-1 defeat to Belenenses.

Pedro Marques will lead the line, having netted his fourth goal in the last seven games on Monday.

Farense will be without midfielder Jonatan Lucca, who will serve a one-game suspension after he picked up his fifth yellow card of the campaign in the draw with Portimonense.

Veteran goalkeeper Beto will continue his spell in the starting side, as Rafael Defendi remains out of action with a knee injury.

Striker Pedro Henrique will come in with renewed confidence, having netted his third goal of the season last time out.

He will be supported by Ryan Gauld, who has shone for Farense this season with eight goals and six assists in 28 Primeira Liga games.

Gil Vicente possible starting lineup:
Denis; Pereira, Nogueira, Fernandes, Gomes; Carvalho, Pedrinho, Mineiro; Fujimoto, Marques, Lourency

SC Farense possible starting lineup:
Beto; Tavares, Cesar, Mancha, Abner; Oudrhiri, Melo; Lica, Gauld, Isidoro; Henrique

We say: Gil Vicente 1-2 SC Farense

The visitors could come into this game with some quiet confidence, having seen a slight upturn in form in the last two matches, and we see them pulling off a crucial victory on Saturday.

If they can take the positives from the recent draw with Portimonense, while remaining tight at the back, Costa's men should have enough to pick up a win over a side who have recently been inconsistent, given their fairly comfortable position in the top flight.

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