On Sunday night, Chaves hosts Vitoria Guimaraes in the Portuguese Primeira Liga, as both teams look to kick off season 2022/23 with a win.
The home team has enjoyed a solid pre-season campaign, as they are unbeaten in six matches in 90 minutes. They have also kept three straight clean sheets, a significant positive heading into this season-opener.
Chaves will be playing in the Portuguese top-flight this season for the first time since 2018/19. They achieved promotion by beating Moreirense 2-1 on aggregate in the promotion/relegation play-off.
The home side ended their last spell in the Portuguese top-flight with back-to-back defeats against Vitoria Setubal and Tondela.
Unsurprisingly, considering they suffered relegation, Chaves' home form was also poor in their last spell in the Primeira Liga, as they won just one of their final seven league matches on home soil. However, they finished last season with a 12-game unbeaten run on home soil in the second tier.
The visitors finished sixth place in the Primeira Liga last season, missing out on the European spots by three points.
Vitoria Guimaraes have experienced a mixed pre-season campaign so far, winning two, drawing one and losing one of their games. A big plus for Pepa’s team is that they kept three clean sheets in their four matches.
Vitoria finished last season with a five-game unbeaten run. However, the fact that three of those five unbeaten games ended in draws ultimately cost them a European spot for this season.
They are unbeaten in four away games in the Portuguese top-flight, but Vitoria Guimaraes have won just two of their last ten league matches on their travels.
Forebet predicts that Vitoria Guimaraes will continue their unbeaten run from last season by recording a victory in a high-scoring encounter.