The league table in Primeira Liga tells a story about these teams so far, with Rio Ave leading Belenenses by 12 points. Match preview to follow:
Rio Ave and Belenenses should both be in good shape for this meeting, as there's been enough days for both of them to train and rest since their last matches.
Rio Ave form and stats
When playing at home in the Primeira Liga, Rio Ave have managed 4 wins, 4 draws and suffered 3 defeats from 11 games. Two draws in a row at home now for Rio Ave.
A strong away win for Rio Ave against Tondela the last match, as Gelson Dala (2) were on target. Preceding that game was the home draw versus Sporting CP that ended 1-1.
Manager C. Soares da Costa Faria Carvalhal felt very clever after Gelson Dala scored the winning goal against Tondela, having brought on that player as a substitute in the 67th minute.
Rio Ave are believed to win this game, given a winning chance of about 70% by the bookmakers. We have checked our records for their performance in similar circumstances and found one match and the win/draw/lost stats: Won zero, drew zero and lost one.
Rio Ave has scored 16 league goals at home this season, in 11 matches. Rio Ave have conceded 12 in these home matches.
Belenenses form and stats
There's been little loot from Belenenses's travels as they have only collected 11 points from 11 away games in the Primeira Liga. Belenenses only have 3 wins to counter their 6 defeats and 2 draws.
The supporters enjoyed Belenenses's previous game versus Marítimo (placed 15th), a Primeira Liga 1-0 win played at home. Preceding that game was the away victory against Boavista with the score of 2-1.
We have done a similar check as we did with the hometeam, looking up recent matches where Belenenses played away with similar odds. This revealed four games. The visitors overcame the odds to win one time, zero were draws and the home team won as expected three times.
Many goals are not expected from the visiting Belenenses as they have only managed to score 10 times from 11 away games in the league. Belenenses have conceded 19 goals in these games.
Head 2 Head
Belenenses - Rio Ave 0-2 was the story when these teams last met, earlier this season. Head-to-head totals (for the last ten meetings): Rio Ave won five games, three matches ended with a draw and Belenenses has two wins. Over 2,5 goals / under 2,5 goals: five / fiveTop Goalscorers
 M. Taremi 7 goals |   L. Pereira Carneiro 6 goals |  D. da Silva Lopes 5 goals |
Rio Ave missing players
Belenenses missing players
| Rio Ave | Belenenses | ||||||
| Total | Home | vs | Statistics | Stat | vs | Away | Total |
| 22 | 11 | 3 | Played | P | 3 | 11 | 22 |
| 10 | 4 | 1 | Won | W | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| 6 | 4 | 0 | Drew | D | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 6 | 3 | 2 | Lost | L | 3 | 6 | 12 |
| 31 | 16 | 7 | Scored | S | 3 | 10 | 19 |
| 22 | 12 | 6 | Conceded | C | 8 | 19 | 38 |
| 95% | 100% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 82% | 91% |
| 68% | 64% | 67% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 100% | 73% | 68% |
| 32% | 27% | 67% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 67% | 55% | 41% |
| 23% | 27% | 67% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 67% | 36% | 27% |
| 14% | 18% | 67% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 33% | 18% | 18% |
| 45% | 55% | 67% | BTTS | BTTS | 67% | 45% | 41% |
| 32% | 27% | 0% | Clean Sheets | C S | 0% | 27% | 23% |
| 27% | 18% | 33% | Failed to Score | F T | 33% | 45% | 45% |
| 4.5 | 5.9 | 5 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 5.3 | 5.1 | 4.6 |
| 4.6 | 3.8 | 2.7 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 7.3 | 7.3 | 5.8 |
| 2 | 1.8 | 1 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 3 | 2.5 | 2.9 |
| 3 | 2 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 226 | 128 | 47 | Total Shots | T S | 33 | 103 | 216 |
| 69 | 43 | 18 | Shots on Target | S O | 12 | 34 | 62 |
| 45% | 37% | 39% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 25% | 29% | 31% |
- Belenenses have played more matches over 2,5 goals away than home.
- Rio Ave has the most matches under the total-line (15)
- Rio Ave have won significantly more corners at home than away.
- Rio Ave haven’t played a single 0-0 game at home.
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Benfica | 22 | 19 | 0 | 3 | 50 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 27 | 6 | 11 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 6 | 38 | 57 |
| 2 | Porto | 22 | 18 | 2 | 2 | 47 | 15 | 11 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 5 | 11 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 22 | 10 | 32 | 56 |
| 3 | Sporting Braga | 22 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 36 | 24 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 19 | 14 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 17 | 10 | 12 | 40 |
| 4 | Sporting CP | 22 | 12 | 3 | 7 | 34 | 23 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 17 | 12 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 17 | 11 | 11 | 39 |
| 5 | Rio Ave | 22 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 31 | 22 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 16 | 12 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 10 | 9 | 36 |
| 6 | Famalicão | 22 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 35 | 39 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 20 | 20 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 19 | -4 | 33 |
| 7 | Vitória SC | 22 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 36 | 24 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 18 | 10 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 18 | 14 | 12 | 31 |
| 8 | Santa Clara | 22 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 18 | 23 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 13 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 10 | -5 | 29 |
| 9 | Boavista | 22 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 18 | 21 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 9 | -3 | 28 |
| 10 | Vitória FC | 23 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 16 | 26 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 16 | -10 | 27 |
| 11 | Moreirense | 22 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 31 | 31 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 18 | 15 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 13 | 16 | 0 | 26 |
| 12 | Gil Vicente | 22 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 23 | 28 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 16 | -5 | 26 |
| 13 | Belenenses | 22 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 19 | 38 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 19 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 19 | -19 | 24 |
| 14 | Tondela | 22 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 19 | 27 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 13 | -8 | 24 |
| 15 | Marítimo | 22 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 21 | 28 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 15 | 14 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 14 | -7 | 24 |
| 16 | Paços de Ferreira | 22 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 14 | 31 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 19 | -17 | 19 |
| 17 | Portimonense | 23 | 2 | 10 | 11 | 15 | 31 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 19 | -16 | 16 |
| 18 | Desportivo Aves | 22 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 22 | 42 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 10 | 16 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 12 | 26 | -20 | 13 |