Seeking to pick up a second consecutive home victory and move closer to the Conference League qualification spot, Vitoria de Guimaraes play host to Santa Clara at the Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques on Sunday.

Os Acoreanos, on the other hand, are currently on a seven-match winless run away from home and will head into the game looking to end this dry spell.

Match preview

Vitoria de Guimaraes were denied a second consecutive victory as they were held to a disappointing 1-1 draw by 17th-placed Tondela when the sides squared off last Sunday.

Following an uneventful first half at the Estadio Joao Cardoso, the game sparked into life in the 63rd minute when Rafael Barbosa put the hosts ahead but Rafa Soares netted four minutes later to force a share of the spoils.

Prior to that, Vitoria de Guimaraes cruised to an emphatic 4-0 victory over eighth-placed Pacos de Ferreira on April 15 which saw their run of two consecutive home defeats come to an end.

Pepa's side have picked up 12 wins, seven draws and lost 12 of their 31 games so far to collect 43 points and sit sixth in the Primeira Liga standings, five points off Gil Vicente in the Conference League qualification spot with three games left to play.

Elsewhere, Santa Clara failed to return to winning ways last time out when they bottled a two-goal lead to settle for a disappointing 2-2 draw with Maritimo at the Estadio de Sao Miguel.

FC Tokyo loanee Kyosuke Tagawa maintained his fine goalscoring form as he netted a first-half brace to put the hosts two goals up heading into the break, but Ali Alipour pulled one back in the 64th minute before Claudio Winck levelled matters with five minutes on the clock.

Prior to that, Santa Clara ended their three-game winless run when they saw off Estoril Praia 2-0 on April 10 before claiming a 1-1 comeback draw at Arouca five days later.

Mario Silva's side are unbeaten in all but one of their last nine outings — claiming two draws and six draws — with a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Porto on April 4 being the only exception.

With three games to go before the 2021-22 campaign comes to a close, Santa Clara are currently 10th in the league standings with 36 points from 31 games, but could rise as high as seventh with all three points on Sunday.

However, next up for Os Acoreanos is the daunting task of squaring off against Vitoria de Guimaraes at the Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques, where they have lost four of their last five visitors since 2018.

Team News

Vitoria de Guimaraes will take to the pitch without Portuguese midfielder Tomas Handel after the 21-year-old came off injured in February's game against Belenenses.

Soares opened his account for the season with his equaliser against Tondela last time out and the 26-year-old should team up with Abdul Mumin, Toni Borevkovic and Miguel Maga for the third consecutive game.

Meanwhile, Santa Clara remain without the services of Portuguese midfielder Costinha, who has been out of action since last August through an Achilles tendon injury.

Veteran goalkeeper Marco Pereira is also a doubt for the visitors after the 35-year-old was forced off due to injury at half time in the game against Maritimo last weekend.

With his first-half brace in the aforementioned game, Tagawa now has four goals in his last three games for Silva's men and the FC Tokyo loanee will certainly be one to keep an eye out for.

Vitoria de Guimaraes possible starting lineup:
Varela; Soares, Borevkovic, Mumin, Maga; Esteves, Almeida, Bamba; Lameiras, Rochinha, Catamo

Santa Clara possible starting lineup:
Pereira; Sagna, Villanueva, Boateng, Mansur; Carvalho, Nene; Costa, Ricardinho, Allano; Tagawa

We say: Vitoria de Guimaraes 1-0 Santa Clara

Vitoria de Guimaraes will be backing themselves to come away with the desired results once again given their home record against Silva's side. Santa Clara head into the game winless in each of their last seven away games and we predict this run will continue with the hosts grabbing a narrow win.

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