Early league leaders Gil Vicente travel to Portimonense on Sunday in gameweek two of the Primeira Liga campaign.

Both sides finished in the bottom half of the table last season, and Portimonense only finished one point above the relegation playoff spot, so they will be aiming for improvement this year.

Match preview

Paulo Sergio's side travelled to face Vitoria de Guimaraes for the opening round of fixtures and got their 2021-22 campaign off to a winning start, thanks to a late strike from Beto.

That 86th-minute goal from the 23-year-old was Portimonense's first shot on target, making the victory not so convincing with the majority of the chances falling to the home side.

Beto was the club's top goalscorer last season, netting 11 times in the Primeira Liga, and his goal on the opening day this time around has helped get him off the mark five games earlier than the beginning of the last campaign.

Brazilian goalkeeper Samuel will be pleased with his clean sheet from the first game, having to make three saves against Guimaraes, and will be looking to build on the nine clean sheets that he earned last year.

The club are entering their fifth consecutive season in Portugal's top flight - their longest run since the 1980s - and they will aspire to emulate their 2017-18 campaign when they finished 10th.

Gil Vicente were one of three teams that won 3-0 last week, giving the side a perfect start to the campaign and a dominant performance to build on.

Fran scored inside the first three minutes at the Estadio Cidade de Barcelos before Samuel Lino doubled Gil Vicente's lead heading into half time.

That game was sealed just 10 minutes after the restart when Fran completed his brace, and made good first impressions on his new fans having only joined the club this summer.

Heading into Sunday's fixture, Ricardo Soares's side will want to replicate their performance from last week when they dominated possession and managed six shots on target.

During the 2020-21 campaign, Gil Vicente won the first meeting between these two sides but Portimonense followed that up with a 4-1 victory against Vicente in February.

Team News

Portimonense's back four in front of goalkeeper Samuel achieved high ratings following their opening victory and clean sheet, and the unit made up from Filipe Relvas, Willyan, Lucas Possignolo and Fahd Moufi are expected to start again on Sunday.

Winger Fabricio was forced off after 38 minutes against Guimaraes due to injury and he is likely to be absent this week, with fellow Brazilian Anderson Oliveira expected to come into the starting 11.

Aylton Boa Morte provided the assist for Beto's winning strike in gameweek one, and Sergio will be hoping the pair can link up again against Gil Vicente.

The visitors are expected to field the same starting lineup that convincingly won last Sunday, with striker Fran being identified as a key player for Soares's side.

Midfielder Pedrinho registered two assists against Boavista and will be an important figure for Gil Vicente when they need to create chances in front of goal.

It was very much a new look defensively for Gil Vicente last week as goalkeeper Stanislav Kritsyuk, right-back Ze Carlos and centre-back Lucas Ferrugem all kept a clean sheet on their league debut for the club.

Portimonense possible starting lineup:
Samuel; Relvas, Willyan, Possignolo, Moufi; Luquinha, Sa, Fernandes; Oliveira, Beto, Morte

Gil Vicente possible starting lineup:
Kritsyuk; Talocha, Fernandes, Ferrugem, Carlos; Pedrinho, Carvalho, Fujimoto; Lino, Fran, Aouacheria

We say: Portimonense 1-2 Gil Vicente

Both sides may have picked up three points on the opening day but Gil Vicente's performance and result was more dominant than Portimonense, who only registered one shot on target.

Portimonense's victory last week demonstrates the side's efficiency, but the away side on Sunday are expected to take advantage of having more possession against Portimonense.

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