Famalicao play host to Moreirense on Thursday evening in Primeira Liga action, with the visitors sitting seven places above Famalicao in the league table, despite being only four points better off than Thursday's opponents.

Moreirense will be looking for a quick recovery after they were thrashed 4-0 by Braga on Monday night.

Match preview

Silas will be taking charge of his first game as Famalicao manager in this encounter after the dismissal of Joao Pedro Sousa following their most recent league loss.

They come into this game with some fairly concerning league form, having lost five of their last six Primeira Liga matches and winning the other.

This run has seen Famalicao drop down to 15th in the table, sitting level on points with Boavista in the relegation playoff spot and just one point above Gil Vicente in the automatic relegation zone.

This is in no small part down to their poor defensive record, having conceded the most goals in the league so far with 28 from 16 matches.

Last time out, they fell to a 2-1 away defeat at the hands of Nacional, triggering the sacking of Sousa. Famalicao took the lead through Anderson Silva in the first half, however goals from Bryan Rochez and Chico Ramos condemned Famalicao to an eighth league loss of the season.

Meanwhile, they have only picked up three victories in the league so far and drawn five matches, seeing them sit on 14 points from 16 Primeira Liga fixtures.

This is a huge regression from last season, where in the side's first campaign in the top flight after promotion from the Segunda Liga, they finished in sixth.

However Pedro Sousa failed to replicate that form this season, and the board have made the decision to bring in the former Sporting Lisbon manager in their attempt to avoid relegation back down to Portugal's second tier.

They come up against a side who will be desperate to bounce straight back from a heavy 4-0 home defeat at the hands of SC Braga.

Moreirense trailed by three goals after just 25 minutes before Andre Horta added a final goal late on for the visitors.

Despite that poor result, Os Verdes e Brancos do sit in eighth in the Primeira Liga, with a very respectable tally of 18 points, however their recent form is cause for concern, having only won one of their last five league games.

Before the Braga game, Vasco Seabra's side may have felt slightly unfortunate to draw 2-2 at home to Portimonense, when the visitors equalised through Dener in the final 10 minutes after goals from Rafael Martins and Steven Vitoria swung the game in Moreirense's favour.

Seabra will be hoping his side can put an end to their relatively disappointing run of form against an out-of-sorts Famalicao side who are known to be very weak defensively. However, they have not found it easy to score goals so far this season.

Despite sitting well above the relegation scrap, Moreirense have scored just 13 goals in 16 league matches this season, with only three sides scoring fewer.

The Portuguese manager will need to resolve this issue if his side are to keep hold of a safe mid-table position and avoid slipping down the league.

Famalicao Primeira Liga form: LLLWLL

Moreirense Primeira Liga form: WLDWDL
Moreirense form (all competitions): LDWWDL

Team News

The hosts are expected to be without on-loan Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Leonardo Campana, who has missed the last three fixtures with a muscle injury and should remain out for this encounter.

Famalicao lost an important attacking player to Vitoria de Guimaraes this January in Ruben Lameiras, who scored four goals and registered one assist in 10 games for the side before his transfer away.

However, Alexandre Guedes did join the club from Vitoria, and Silas will be hoping that the Portuguese striker can bring some crucial goals to his side.

They have also been boosted by an impressive loan signing of Wolves' Ruben Vinagre in early January, and he has featured four times at left-back since his arrival.

Moreirense remain without several players due to injuries, including key midfielder Pedro Nuno and left-back Pedro Amador. They are joined on the sidelines by forwards Derik Lacerda and Andre Luis.

They boosted their midfield options with the loan signing of David Simao from AEK Athens, while Rafael Martins was also brought in to add depth in attack, picking up his first goal in the 2-2 draw with Portimonense.

Famalicao possible starting lineup:
Junior; Patrick, Queiros, Babic, Vinagre; Ugarte, Assuncao, Kraev; Anderson, Guedes, Robert

Moreirense possible starting lineup:
Pasinato; Silva, Vitoria, Ferraresi, Conte; Simao, Camara; Yan, Soares, Walterson; Rafael

We say: Famalicao 1-1 Moreirense

We can see this being a very close encounter between two sides struggling for form. While the visitors may possess the slightly better squad, especially after the departure of Lameiras from Famalicao, the introduction of manager Silas could breathe new life into the hosts as they look to avoid relegation, and the change at the top could give the side a boost. We see the teams sharing the points in this game.

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