Vitoria de Guimaraes will travel to face Gil Vicente at the Estadio Cidade de Barcelos on Monday, with both teams looking to begin the New Year on a high.
Both teams will enter the contest lavel on points and separated only by one place just outside the Conference League qualification places which makes it an exciting affair.
Gil Vicente returned to winning ways in the Primeira Liga when they picked up a 3-0 victory over Tondela at the Estadio Joao Cardoso last Tuesday, through goals from Murilo de Souza, Matheus Bueno and Boubacar Hanne.
Before that, the Gilistas saw their two-game winning run come to an end on December 18, they lost 3-0 to Sporting Lisbon with second-half goals from Goncalo Inacio, Nuno Santos and Daniel Braganca.
Gil Vicente will be looking to keep their form running and move into the European qualification places, but they will be going up against an opposing side they have failed to defeat in any of the last three encounters at home.
As for Vitoria de Guimaraes, they have failed to their feet last time out as they lost their 1-0 lead to settle for a 1-1 draw against Boavista at home.
In a tight contest at the Dom Afonso Henriques, forward Oscar Estupinan put the hosts ahead at the 81st minute but Boavista replied with a goal three minutes later through Tiago Ilori.
That followed a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Santa Clara on December 17, when forward Rui Costa scored the only goal of the game in the 40th minute to end their two-game winning run.
Having picked up 23 points from 16 games, Vitoria de Guimaraes are currently sitting 8th in the Primeira Liga standings, level on points with Monday’s hosts and two points behind Estoril Praia in the final Conference League qualification place.
Gil Vicente vs Vitoria de Guimaraes head to head
The two teams have previously met on 34 occasions across all competitions, with Vitoria Guimaraes taking 13 victories while Gil Vicente have 10, and they have drawn in 11. Guimaraes have scored 49 goals and conceded 44. Gil Vicente won 4-2 away in their last encounter on March 14 2021.
Vitoria Guimaraes 2-2 Gil Vicente 24/01/15
Gil Vicente 2-2 Vitoria Guimaraes 15/12/19
Vitoria Guimaraes 1-2 Gil Vicente 10/07/20
Gil Vicente 1-2 Vitoria Guimaraes 01/11/20
Vitoria Guimaraes 2-4 Gil Vicente 14/03/21
Gil Vicente latest home form
Gil Vicente have recently been on a relatively poor form at home, having won just one of their last seven matches. They lost their last match at home 3-0 to Sporting Lisbon on December 18 2021. Their last victory at home came on December 5 2021 when they defeated Famalicao 4-0.
Gil Vicente 1-2 Porto 24/09/21
Gil Vicente 0-1 Sporting Braga 25/10/21
Gil Vicente 1-1 Arouca 05/11/21
Gil Vicente 4-0 Famalicao 05/12/21
Gil Vicente 0-3 Sporting Lisbon 18/12/21
Gil Vicente latest away form
Gil Vicente have recently been on a good form on the road, as they have lost just one of their last five matches. They have not lost in their last three matches, with their last away defeat coming on November 20 when they lost 1-0 to Leca in the Taca de Portugal.
Maritimo 1-2 Gil Vicente 31/10/21
Leca 1-0 Gil Vicente 20/11/21
Moreirense 2-2 Gil Vicente 26/11/21
Pacos Ferreira 0-1 Gil Vicente 10/12/21
Tondela 0-3 Gil Vicente 28/12/21
Vitoria de Guimaraes latest home form
Vitoria Guimaraes have recently been on a good run of form at home, as they have not lost in any of their last five matches. They picked up a 1-1 draw against Boavista in their last match at home. They have won three and drawn two of their last five.
Vitoria Guimaraes 2-1 Maritimo 22/10/21
Vitoria Guimaraes 3-3 Benfica 27/10/21
Vitoria Guimaraes 2-1 Moreirense 06/11/21
Vitoria Guimaraes 5-2 Tondela 11/12/21
Vitoria Guimaraes 1-1 Boavista 29/12/21
Vitoria Guimaraes latest away form
Vitoria Guimaraes have recently been on a poor run of form on the road, having won just one of their last five matches. That victory came on December 4 2021 when they defeated Pacos Ferreira 2-1. They lost their last away game 1-0 to Santa Clara on December 17 2021.
Sporting Lisbon 1-0 Vitoria Guimaraes 30/10/21
Moreirense 3-2 Vitoria Guimaraes 21/11/21
Porto 2-1 Vitoria Guimaraes 28/11/21
Pacos Ferreira 1-2 Vitoria Guimaraes 04/12/21
Santa Clara 1-0 Vitoria Guimaraes 17/12/21
Gil Vicente news
Soares is expected to name a similar squad that started against Tondela, which could see attackers Samuel Lino, Murilo de Souza and Fran Navarro start again.
They will be without Joao Afonso who has been sidelined since last April, and he is joined by Jean who came off with a muscle injury against Famalicao.
Vitoria de Guimaraes news
Guimaraes will be without several key players, as Alfa Semedo, Falaye Sacko and Khalid Abdul Mumin are all on international duties at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Marcus Edwards, Helder Sa, Borges Guedes, Oscar Estupinan and Ricardo Quaresma are all out of contention for Guimaraes after recently testing positive for COVID-19.
Prediction and Odds
With nothing separating the two teams, we could expect an intresting contest with both sides taking the game to one another.
Gil Vicente have struggled with their form at home this season, with Guimaraes also recently struggling away. So, we could see the game ending level or an away win.
Odds: 1 2.45 X 2.50 2 2.30
Probable outcomes
Gil Vicente 0-0 Vitoria Guimaraes
Gil Vicente 1-1 Vitoria Guimaraes
Gil Vicente 2-2 Vitoria Guimaraes
Gil Vicente 0-1 Vitoria Guimaraes
Gil Vicente 1-2 Vitoria Guimaraes
