Round 18 of the Portuguese Primeira Liga gets underway on Sunday when Casa Pia and Santa Clara go head to head at the National Sports Center of Jamor.

Jorge Simao's men, who are without a win in eight consecutive matches across all competitions, will set out to end this dry spell and pick up their first win of the year.

Match preview

Casa Pia were left empty handed for the second consecutive game as they suffered a 3-1 home loss against Gil Vicente when the sides squared off last Sunday.

Following a goalless first half, Rafael Martins put the hosts ahead at the start of the second period, but Spanish forward Fran Navarro inspired a sensational Gil Vicente comeback as he scored twice to inspire the Gilistas to a third league win in four games.

Prior to that, Os Gansos saw their three-game unbeaten run across all competitions come to an end on January 16 when they lost 2-0 at Estoril Praia courtesy of goals from Francisco Geraldes and 21-year-old Tiago Gouveia.

Felipe Martins's men have now failed to win four of their last five league outings since the second week in November — losing three and picking up one draw — with a 2-1 victory at Portimonense on December 28 being the exception.

For all their recent struggles, Casa Pia remain on course for in Europe thanks to a superb first half of the season as they sit fifth in the Primeira Liga table with 27 points from 17 matches.

Santa Clara, on the other hand, failed to stop the rot last time out as they suffered a 3-0 thrashing against a rampant Benfica side at the Estadio de Sao Miguel.

As Aguias were in full control from start to finish as Fredrik Aursnes and Goncalo Ramos netted within the opening 16 minutes before debutant Goncalo Guedes opened his account for the club in the 80th minute to cap off a solid team display.

Simao's side have now failed to win any of their last eight matches across all competitions, losing six and managing just two draws since a 3-1 home victory over Estoril Praia on November 14.

This poor run saw Os Acoreanos crash out of the Taca da Liga after finishing rock-bottom in Group G and also drop into the league's danger zone as they now sit 16th in the Primeira Liga table, four points off Famalicao outside the relegation places.

While Santa Clara have been solid at the defensive end of the pitch this season, their struggles have been owing to a lack of sting in attack, where they have netted just 11 league goals so far and have failed to find the back of the net since December's 2-1 loss against Arouca.

Team News

Casa Pia will take to the pitch without the services of Corinthians loanee Leo Natel, who is currently recuperating from a severe leg injury.

He is joined on the club's injury table by 22-year-old defender Leonardo Lelo, who is set to sit out his sixth consecutive game after picking up an injury back in December.

As for Santa Clara, first-choice goalkeeper Marco Rocha has been sidelined since October and is out of contention for Sunday's contest.

Tomas Domingos will also play no part in this weekend's encounter as he continues his long road to full fitness after suffering an ACL injury last May.

Filip Stevanovic has missed the last seven matches through a muscle problem and the Serbian youngster will not be involved in the trip to the National Sports Center of Jamor.

Santa Clara recently completed the loan signing of Olimpia forward Walter Gonzalez and the 27-year-old forward could make his debut this weekend.

Casa Pia possible starting lineup:
Batista; Varela, Fernandes, Zolotic; Soares, Taira, Baro, Poloni; Godwin, Martins, Kunimoto

Santa Clara possible starting lineup:
Batista; Henrique, Boateng, Fagundes, Calila; Misao, Firmino, Italo; Silva, Babi, Almeida

We say: Casa Pia 3-1 Santa Clara

Having suffered a slump in recent weeks, Casa Pia will be happy to go up against a floundering Santa Clara side who are without a win in eight straight games. The Acoreanos' lack of goalscoring threat remains a cause for concern and we are backing Casa Pia to outscore the visitors and walk away with all three points this weekend.

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