The round of 13 of the Portuguese Super League ends at the São Jomiguel stadium, with Santa Clara and Estoril Praia going head-to-head on Monday.
Santa Clara's performance has slipped this season. After 12 rounds, Santa Clara has only two wins to sit 15th in the league and just one point out of the relegation zone. This is a far cry from the performance of the previous two seasons that were firmly in the upper middle range. The team is destined to struggle for relegation this season, and Santa Clara's form has improved at the moment. In the past three games, they have a record of 1 win and 2 draws, including some highlights such as a draw with giants Porto. Sitting at home, the team is hungry for points against rivals Estoril.
As last season's promotion horse, Estoril's performance this season is still stable. Not enough than the top, but more than the bottom. Currently 10th out of the relegation zone, seven points over, so the situation is much easier than the home team, but the team has not been in good form recently, losing to Benfica in the cup and league, and has not won four consecutive games, but losing to Portuguese Premier League giants Benfica and Braga, the defeat is also reasonable, for manager Verissimo, getting out of the shadow of being dominated by a strong team as soon as possible is the first thing to do.
Santa Clara, defender Paolo Enrique remains absent and has not recovered from an injury against Ferreira in September, while Portuguese midfielder Costinha has been ruled out with a ligament injury. Domingos is still in the recovery stage and is temporarily unlikely to play for the host, while the other name on the injury list is midfielder Jordang, who has suffered a significant weakening in terms of strength after losing key players such as Hidemasa Morita and Cressan, which is also the reason for this season's sluggishness.
Estoril, meanwhile, will play without former Sporting Lisbon midfielder Geraldes, who was sent off with a red card against Benfica in midweek and is currently suspended. Defender Alvaro is likely not to play due to injuries in the last round, with Brazilian defender Lucas likely to take his place as a back four with Thiago Santos, Bernardo Vitale and 33-year-old captain Joozinho.
In the past meetings between the two sides, the last two Santa Clara games with a win and a draw currently have the upper hand, while the other matches are older, and they are all in the Portuguese League, the reference is not significant, in terms of data, Santa Clara strength score 78, Estoril strength score 77.6, strength gap 0.4.
Overall, both sides have weak points, although Estoril ranks higher than the home team, but the recent state is poor, and the home team although the record is better than the away team, but the market image is not as good as Estoril, this concession to Santa Clara 0.25, there is a certain support, focusing on the protection of the direction of the home team, but giving Estoril a sense of comfort, so Ajay is relatively looking forward to the home team's play, optimistic that Santa Clara will go all out to win three points!