Rio Ave hosts Belenenses in the Taça de Portugal 1/8 finals. The match will be played on Thursday, December 23rd at Estádio do Rio Ave (Vila do Conde)
In 2020, Rio Ave finished in 5th place in the Primeira Liga, repeating its best achievement in history. Moreover, then the Green-Whites were very close to not letting AC Milan into the group stage of the Europa League (let’s note that the Red-Blacks were the leaders of Serie A at that time). But Rio Ave ended that season with a failure in a more important competition. The team finished in 16th place and was forced to face Arouca in the playoffs. And that opponent scored five unanswered goals in two matches against Rio Ave. So far, the Green-Whites show good results in a lower division and are among the leaders (albeit with rather modest indicators — 27 points scored in 15 matches). Is there a need for a "second front" in the form of a cup in this important struggle?
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Belenenses was formally founded in 2018. The current club has the prefix “SAD”, which was introduced as a reaction to an internal conflict to the version of the project that once managed to become the champion of the country and won the cup three times. The results in the previous were not bad, and Belenenses rounded out the top ten. But now the already unstable results have been complicated by the outbreak of coronavirus. As a result, it led to a scandalous 0-7 defeat to Benfica, when initially only nine players appeared on the pitch, and one of the goalkeepers had to act as a fielder. However, this terrible episode does not explain all the terrible results of the half-year. Belenenses is at the bottom of the standings, and only weak results of Moreirense, Famalicao, and the company give the Blue-Whites chances for salvation. But to do this, they need to fully concentrate on Primeira Liga.
The last three head-to-head matches ended in goalless draws. Moreover, the home side has not won in seven confrontations, and Belenenses last won in 2017. After that, Rio Ave gained five victories and four draws. Now both clubs have a reason to refuse the cup. But Rio Ave has a lot of trumps, so we recommend betting on its victory with a zero handicap.
Prediction for the match: Rio Ave to win with 0.0 handicap
