Monday night wraps up this weekend’s action in the opening round of matches in this new Portuguese top flight season and features this upcoming clash between Gil Vicente and Pacos Ferreira at the Estádio Cidade de Barcelos.
Despite a heavy 5-0 defeat away from home at Vitoria Guimaraes on the final day of last season’s Primeira Liga campaign, Gil Vicente had already done enough to secure a top five finish in the domestic top flight which earned them a place in the Champions League 3rd qualifying round.
😍 https://t.co/G8XFN0DCCo— Gil Vicente Futebol Clube (@GilVicente_fc) August 4, 2022
😍 https://t.co/G8XFN0DCCo
Indeed, last week’s 1st leg 1-1 draw away from home at Latvian outfit, Riga, means that Gil Vicente will head into their upcoming 2nd leg tie with the scores level prior to holding home advantage at their Estádio Cidade de Barcelos which takes on even more importance in terms of financial reward as they seek a place in the group stages of the competition.
Having managed just one win from their last eight matches of last season’s domestic league campaign though, along with one eye on their crucial European clash, this could be a low-key season opener for the hosts.
Pacos Ferreira finished last season’s Primeira Liga campaign just below a mid-table position in 11th place.
The visitors saw their season tail off in disappointing fashion, failing to win any of their final five games of last term.
Indeed, Pacos Ferreira suffered three defeats within this period as they incurred losses against Vitoria Guimaraes, Santa Clara and Benfica, while only picking up two points in these last 15 on offer thanks to draws with Gil Vicente (1-1 away from home) and a 1-1 draw at home with Tondela.
The visitors claimed just two wins from their last 10 outings on their travels as well.
Interestingly, only two of these 10 away games resulted with both teams hitting the back of the net and scoring.
Perhaps unsurprisingly then, eight of Pacos Ferreira’s last 10 away games have also resulted in under 2.5 goals, so we shouldn’t expect a goal-feast in this encounter.
Indeed, each of the last four meetings between these two clubs have resulted in under 2.5 goals and another low-scoring affair looks to be on the cards for Monday night as well.