Rio Ave hosts Sporting in round 31 of the Portuguese Primeira Liga. The match will be played on Tuesday, May 4th at Estádio do Rio Ave (Vila do Conde)
In the last draw of Primeira Liga, Rio Ave became “the champion of the rest” – the team finished behind the four usual leaders. 15 wins and 55 points in 34 games played - an excellent result for a rather modest team, which used to make noise mainly in cups. Moreover, it lacked the least modicum to prevent Milan itself from getting into the Europa League group stage in the fall. The Italians had to gain a ticket in the penalty shootout. Perhaps, just the early start of the season, associated with the qualification of the European Cup, affected the entire season as a whole. Rio Ave showed a good game only sporadically. And it has not managed to win since March 14. Not surprisingly, the relegation zone is close. A 0-0 draw with Portimonense became the 8th game without a win.
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Sporting managed to win the champion’s titles in 2000 and 2002, bringing their number to 18. But then the club from Lisbon was in the shadows for almost 20 years. And the Lions have not won even silver medals since 2016. To change this, Ruben Amorim was lured away from Braga in the previous season. At first, the young coach could not turn the tide, and the team from the capital was ranked fourth. It is noteworthy that the bronze was taken by the Archbishops. The clubs earned an equal number of points (60 each), but Sporting had worse additional indicators. But now this decision of Sporting’s management is justified. Under the leadership of Ruben Amorim, the Lions have been keeping the lead during the entire season. But they shouldn’t relax. In April, there were enough misfires (three battling draws in four rounds), but then Sporting managed to beat both Braga and Nacional with a clean sheet.
Sporting has not beaten Rio Ave in four matches in a row. There were two victories of Rio Ave, and the games in 2020 and 2021 ended in draws (both times 1-1). Sporting is heading for the champion’s title, and Rio Ave is clearly not the team to trip the Lions. We are waiting for the victory of the visitors from Lisbon.
Prediction for the match: Sporting to win
