There's been ups and downs for these two teams so far this season, occupying positions near the middle of the Primeira Liga table so far. Here's the Rio Ave - Santa Clara latest:
- Rio Ave have played more matches over 2,5 goals home than away.
- Santa Clara has the fewest dropped points from leading position (0) in Primeira Liga
Rio Ave and Santa Clara 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
Rio Ave have played 6 Primeira Liga games at their own stadium so far this season, resulting in 2-2-2 (wins-draws-losses).
The home team returns to Estádio do Rio Futebol Clube after being equal after 90 minutes with Sporting CP (placed 1st) on their last time out; the Primeira Liga game ended 1-1. Preceding that match was a Taça De Portugal defeat to Estoril (1-2).
The Rio fans would probably like to see some more goals scored at their own stadium in the league, the tally being 6 in 6 matches. 6 goals have been conceded.
Santa Clara form and stats
The story so far for the visiting team on their Primeira Liga travels is 3 wins, 1 draw and 3 defeats.
This game can not go any worse than the last one, a Primeira Liga home defeat versus Famalicao with 1-2 on the scoreboard. Ahead of that match was the victory versus Moreirense at their stadium, the result 2-1.
The schedule is very tough for Santa Clara now as they have to travel again shortly after this match. A Taça De Portugal game at Sporting Braga is waiting in only three days.
Santa have a decent goal production going in their away games, although not fantastic. In 7 league away games 8 goals have been scored. 8 goals have been conceded by Santa in these games.
Head 2 Head
H2H stats regardless of arena (last ten matches): Rio five wins, three draws and Santa Clara two victories. As for goals, three matches ended with three or more goals (over 2,5), seven games had two or less.Top Goalscorers
  T. Santos Santana 7 goals |  C. Carvalho da Silva Junior 3 goals |   C. Cardoso Mané 2 goals |
Rio Ave missing players
Santa Clara missing players
| Rio Ave | Santa Clara | ||||||
| Total | Home | vs | Statistics | Stat | vs | Away | Total |
| 14 | 6 | 2 | Played | P | 2 | 7 | 14 |
| 3 | 2 | 1 | Won | W | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| 6 | 2 | 0 | Drew | D | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 5 | 2 | 1 | Lost | L | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| 10 | 6 | 3 | Scored | S | 0 | 8 | 13 |
| 16 | 6 | 3 | Conceded | C | 3 | 8 | 18 |
| 79% | 67% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 100% | 93% |
| 71% | 67% | 100% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 50% | 71% | 71% |
| 29% | 50% | 50% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 0% | 43% | 43% |
| 7% | 17% | 50% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 0% | 14% | 14% |
| 0% | 0% | 0% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| 29% | 17% | 50% | BTTS | BTTS | 0% | 57% | 50% |
| 43% | 67% | 50% | Clean Sheets | C S | 0% | 14% | 21% |
| 50% | 50% | 0% | Failed to Score | F T | 100% | 29% | 36% |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1.7 | 1.5 | 2 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 4 | 3.7 | 3.1 |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9.5 | 9.2 | 10.5 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 14 | 11.7 | 10.7 |
| 3.3 | 4.3 | 5.5 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 2.5 | 4 | 3.4 |
| 22% | 23% | 27% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 0% | 29% | 27% |
- Rio Ave have played more matches over 2,5 goals home than away.
- Santa Clara has the fewest dropped points from leading position (0) in Primeira Liga
- Santa Clara haven’t played a single 0-0 game away.
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Sporting CP | 14 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 31 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 4 | 22 | 36 |
| 2 | Porto | 14 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 36 | 17 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 8 | 19 | 32 |
| 3 | Benfica | 14 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 29 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 7 | 15 | 32 |
| 4 | Sporting Braga | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 23 | 15 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 14 | 12 | 8 | 27 |
| 5 | Paços de Ferreira | 14 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 19 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 25 |
| 6 | Vitoria Guimaraes | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 15 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 20 |
| 7 | Marítimo | 14 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 16 | 18 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 13 | -2 | 17 |
| 8 | Moreirense | 14 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 15 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 9 | -4 | 17 |
| 9 | Santa Clara | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 18 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 8 | -5 | 15 |
| 10 | Rio Ave | 14 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 16 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 10 | -6 | 15 |
| 11 | Tondela | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 23 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 15 | -10 | 15 |
| 12 | Famalicao | 14 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 16 | 25 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 16 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 9 | -9 | 14 |
| 13 | Nacional | 13 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 16 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | -5 | 13 |
| 14 | Gil Vicente | 14 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 16 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 10 | -6 | 13 |
| 15 | Farense | 13 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 15 | 19 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 10 | -4 | 12 |
| 16 | Belenenses | 13 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -5 | 12 |
| 17 | Portimonense | 13 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 12 | -8 | 11 |
| 18 | Boavista | 14 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 14 | 24 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 11 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 9 | 13 | -10 | 11 |