The Rio Ave & Sporting CP managers C. Soares da Costa Faria Carvalhal and E. Ferro dos Santos are both dreading and looking forward to this decisive game in the upper regions of the Primeira Liga league table.
Both teams have had enough rest since their last competitive action. Let's hope for an energetic game!
Rio Ave form and stats
When playing at home in the Primeira Liga, Rio Ave have managed 4 wins, 3 draws and suffered 3 defeats from 10 games.
Rio Ave enjoyed a nice away win last time out, playing at Desportivo Aves's place. The match ended 4-0 with Diego Lopes, Tarantini and Mehdi Taremi scoring. Preceding that game was the home draw versus Famalicao that ended 2-2.
As mentioned above, Rio Ave "killed" Desportivo Aves in their previous game. They need to reset completely for this one and beware of complacency.
Rio Ave have proved capable of finding the net in their games here at Estádio do Rio Ave Futebol Clube with 15 goals in 10 league matches. On the other hand, Rio Ave have conceded 11 goals.
Sporting CP form and stats
As the visiting team in Primeira Liga matches, Sporting CP have produced an overall stat of 5-2-3 so far.
Sporting CP are travelling after their nice 2-1 home win in the Primeira Liga against Portimonense (placed 17th). It was a defeat before that one as the away game against Sporting Braga wasn't a success with a 0-1 loss.
Sporting CP has displayed an ability to score goals in away matches in the league this season, 16 goals from 10 games. 10 goals have been conceded by Sporting CP in these games.
Head 2 Head
The dueling parties have met before this season: Sporting CP - Rio Ave 2-3. Head-2-head stats last ten meetings: three - one - six (Rio Ave wins - draws - Sporting CP wins). As for goals, six matches ended with three or more goals (over 2,5), four had two or less.Top Goalscorers
  M. Taremi 7 goals |   L. Luciano Silva 6 goals |  D. da Silva Lopes 5 goals |
Rio Ave missing players
Sporting CP missing players
| Rio Ave | Sporting CP | ||||||
| Total | Home | vs | Statistics | Stat | vs | Away | Total |
| 20 | 10 | 2 | Played | P | 1 | 10 | 20 |
| 9 | 4 | 0 | Won | W | 0 | 5 | 11 |
| 5 | 3 | 1 | Drew | D | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 6 | 3 | 1 | Lost | L | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| 28 | 15 | 2 | Scored | S | 0 | 16 | 31 |
| 20 | 11 | 3 | Conceded | C | 1 | 10 | 22 |
| 95% | 100% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| 65% | 60% | 50% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 0% | 70% | 75% |
| 30% | 30% | 50% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 0% | 50% | 55% |
| 25% | 30% | 50% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 0% | 40% | 30% |
| 15% | 20% | 0% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 0% | 0% | 5% |
| 40% | 50% | 50% | BTTS | BTTS | 0% | 60% | 60% |
| 35% | 30% | 0% | Clean Sheets | C S | 0% | 20% | 25% |
| 30% | 20% | 50% | Failed to Score | F T | 100% | 20% | 15% |
| 4.3 | 5.6 | 2 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 9 | 6.5 | 5.8 |
| 4.8 | 4.1 | 6 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 5 | 3.5 | 3.6 |
| 2 | 1.7 | 3.5 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 7 | 3.5 | 3.1 |
| 3 | 2 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 201 | 113 | 15 | Total Shots | T S | 19 | 143 | 308 |
| 60 | 37 | 4 | Shots on Target | S O | 9 | 44 | 93 |
| 47% | 41% | 50% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 0% | 36% | 33% |
- Rio Ave has the most matches under the total-line (14)
- Rio Ave have won significantly more corners at home than away.
- Rio Ave haven’t played a single 0-0 game at home.
- Sporting CP haven’t played a single 0-0 game.
| 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 | 20 | 18 | 0 | 2 | 49 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 5 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 6 | 38 | 54 |
| 2 | Porto | 20 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 44 | 14 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 24 | 5 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 20 | 9 | 30 | 50 |
| 3 | Sporting CP | 20 | 11 | 2 | 7 | 31 | 22 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 16 | 10 | 9 | 35 |
| 4 | Sporting Braga | 20 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 32 | 23 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 16 | 13 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 16 | 10 | 9 | 34 |
| 5 | Famalicao | 20 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 33 | 36 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 19 | 19 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 17 | -3 | 32 |
| 6 | Rio Ave | 20 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 28 | 20 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 11 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 9 | 8 | 32 |
| 7 | Boavista | 20 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 17 | 17 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 28 |
| 8 | Vitória SC | 20 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 33 | 22 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 17 | 8 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 16 | 14 | 11 | 28 |
| 9 | Santa Clara | 20 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 16 | 21 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 8 | -5 | 26 |
| 10 | Vitória FC | 20 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 14 | 21 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 13 | -7 | 26 |
| 11 | Tondela | 20 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 18 | 24 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 12 | -6 | 24 |
| 12 | Gil Vicente | 20 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 21 | 26 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 14 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 15 | -5 | 23 |
| 13 | Moreirense | 20 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 28 | 29 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 14 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 15 | -1 | 22 |
| 14 | Maritimo | 20 | 4 | 9 | 7 | 18 | 27 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 12 | 14 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 13 | -9 | 21 |
| 15 | Belenenses | 20 | 5 | 3 | 12 | 16 | 37 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 19 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 18 | -21 | 18 |
| 16 | Pacos de Ferreira | 20 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 12 | 27 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 16 | -15 | 16 |
| 17 | Portimonense | 20 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 14 | 29 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 18 | -15 | 14 |
| 18 | Desportivo Aves | 20 | 4 | 0 | 16 | 21 | 39 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 14 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 11 | 25 | -18 | 12 |