National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's Rio Ave or Belenenses that keep their silverware dream alive.
There’s little time for restitution or working hard at the training pitch these days, with both teams having played their last game less than four days ago.
Rio Ave form and stats
Rio Ave participated in Taça De Portugal the last season, where they reached the 8th finals.The story so far in the Segunda Liga for Rio Ave at their home stadium (Estádio do Rio Ave Futebol Clube) is 4 wins, 0 draws and 3 defeats. On the other hand, in the Taça De Portugal, Rio Ave has performed like this (both home and away): 3 wins, 0 draws and 0 losses.
A strong away win for Rio against Casa Pia the last match, as Mendes were on target.
Prior to that, an away loss at Porto in the League Cup.This is expected to be a close game, with Rio Ave perhaps considered small favourites due to their home advantage. Looking back at earlier matches similar to this one (expected to be close with Rio Ave as a small favourite), we find seven games. Rio Ave has won one of these, drawn three and lost three.
Rio have proved capable of finding the net in their games here at Estádio do Rio Ave Futebol Clube with 12 goals in 7 league matches. Defensively it’s touch-and-go for the home team as 11 goals have been conceded.
Belenenses form and stats
They also participated in Taça De Portugal last season. This ended in the quarter-finals.Belenenses have only collected 3 points from their away games in the Primeira Liga, after 0-3-4 (7 played).
Belenenses are looking to quickly end their 360 minutes long goal drought in the Primeira Liga.
There might be some fixture complaints from Belenenses as they are again playing away from home after losing on the road in their previous match, the Primeira Liga match against Sporting Braga (0-1). Ribeiro, who plays in defense, got the "man of the match" on his team with the rating 7.24. Ribeiro hit one key pass and won 6 of 7 duels.
A loss against Estoril was the result prior to that, in a Primeira Liga home game.So, this is expected to be a close game, an even contest. Looking at earlier matches with Belenenses playing away and similar expectations, we found seven relevant matches. Results were one Belenenses win, three draws and three defeats.
Belenenses are seemingly not capable of scoring regularly on their travels in the league. They have only managed 2 goals from 7 away games. As opposed to that, Belenenses have seen the ball go into their own net 9 times on the road.
Head 2 Head
Head-2-head stats last ten meetings: five - four - one (Rio wins - draws - Belenenses wins). As for goals, three matches ended with three or more goals (over 2,5), seven had two or less.Top Goalscorers
  G. de Souza 5 goals |  H. Domingos Gomes 4 goals |  P. Lobo Peixoto Mineiro Mendes 4 goals |
Rio Ave missing players
Belenenses missing players
| Rio Ave | Belenenses | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 11 | Played | P | 14 | 25 | ||
| 13 | 6 | Won | W | 3 | 6 | ||
| 5 | 1 | Drew | D | 4 | 6 | ||
| 7 | 4 | Lost | L | 7 | 13 | ||
| 40 | 20 | Scored | S | 12 | 21 | ||
| 30 | 16 | Conceded | C | 20 | 41 | ||
| 100% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 79% | 88% | ||
| 80% | 91% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 57% | 68% | ||
| 56% | 82% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 36% | 40% | ||
| 24% | 36% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 29% | 24% | ||
| 8% | 9% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 7% | 8% | ||
| 56% | 64% | BTTS | BTTS | 29% | 40% | ||
| 24% | 18% | Clean Sheets | C S | 21% | 16% | ||
| 20% | 18% | Failed to Score | F T | 71% | 56% | ||
| 6.2 | 6.1 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 4.4 | 4 | ||
| 4.8 | 4.1 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 6 | 6.4 | ||
| 2.2 | 2.5 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 3 | 2.8 | ||
| 4 | 1 | Red cards | R C | 1 | 2 | ||
| 12.9 | 13.8 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 11.3 | 9.7 | ||
| 4.8 | 5 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 3.2 | 3 | ||
| 34% | 36% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 29% | 29% | ||
| 8.9 | 7.5 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 15.2 | 15 | ||
| 3.2 | 2.7 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 5 | 5.2 | ||
| 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 II | 14 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 32 | 16 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 10 | 16 | 32 |
| 2 | Casa Pia | 15 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 20 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 27 |
| 3 | Rio Ave | 15 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 25 | 18 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 7 | 7 | 27 |
| 4 | Feirense | 14 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 22 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 26 |
| 5 | Nacional | 15 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 24 | 18 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 6 | 23 |
| 6 | Chaves | 15 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 23 | 18 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 12 | 5 | 23 |
| 7 | Mafra | 15 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 19 | 16 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 9 | 3 | 23 |
| 8 | Penafiel | 15 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 15 | 14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 23 |
| 9 | Estrela Amadora | 15 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 24 | 26 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 12 | -2 | 22 |
| 10 | Porto II | 15 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 20 | 20 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 0 | 21 |
| 11 | Trofense | 14 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 14 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 20 |
| 12 | Leixoes | 15 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 19 | 21 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 9 | -2 | 18 |
| 13 | Academico Viseu | 15 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 13 | -8 | 17 |
| 14 | Vilafranquense | 14 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 15 | 20 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 8 | -5 | 15 |
| 15 | Farense | 15 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 18 | 21 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 12 | -3 | 14 |
| 16 | Sporting Covilha | 14 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 21 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 15 | -12 | 12 |
| 17 | Academica | 15 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 15 | 27 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 16 | -12 | 7 |
| 18 | Varzim | 14 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 12 | 25 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 10 | -13 | 7 |
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Porto | 15 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 38 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 5 | 30 | 41 |
| 2 | Sporting CP | 15 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 4 | 22 | 41 |
| 3 | Benfica | 15 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 46 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 21 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 4 | 34 | 37 |
| 4 | Sporting Braga | 15 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 24 | 16 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 28 |
| 5 | Estoril | 15 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 21 | 15 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 25 |
| 6 | Portimonense | 15 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 15 | 13 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 24 |
| 7 | Vitoria Guimaraes | 15 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 21 | 16 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 22 |
| 8 | Gil Vicente | 15 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 20 | 18 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 20 |
| 9 | Boavista | 15 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 17 | 25 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 17 | -8 | 15 |
| 10 | Maritimo | 15 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 18 | 26 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 18 | -8 | 14 |
| 11 | Pacos de Ferreira | 15 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 19 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 9 | -8 | 14 |
| 12 | Arouca | 15 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 16 | 25 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 13 | -9 | 14 |
| 13 | Vizela | 14 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 14 | 25 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 15 | -11 | 13 |
| 14 | Santa Clara | 15 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 13 | 30 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 16 | -17 | 13 |
| 15 | Tondela | 14 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 19 | 29 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 16 | -10 | 12 |
| 16 | Famalicao | 15 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 19 | 30 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 17 | -11 | 11 |
| 17 | Moreirense | 14 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 14 | 24 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 12 | -10 | 9 |
| 18 | Belenenses | 14 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 24 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 9 | -17 | 8 |