AVS vs Santa Clara – News and Probable Lineups

The upcoming round of fixtures in the Portuguese Primeira Liga features a crucial relegation battle between AVS and Santa Clara at the Estádio do CD Aves on Sunday, with both teams striving to maintain their place in the top tier of Portuguese football.

Having managed only one win in 25 league matches, the home side finds itself deeply entrenched in relegation worries, and a return to the second division seems imminent as they currently sit at the bottom of the table. Meanwhile, the visiting team will aim to build on their recent victory and avoid the threat of relegation.

Match overview

AVS’s season has been forgettable, with just one win to show for their 25 league appearances, leaving them scrambling to maintain their top-flight status just two years after their promotion to the Primeira Liga.

With only nine matches left in the season, supporters of the home team may have lost hope in their ability to stay up, as they would require an extraordinary turnaround in form along with favorable results elsewhere to escape relegation.

After the appointment of Joao Henriques in December, not much has shifted for the hosts; however, their sole victory, a 3-0 triumph over Estoril in mid-February, was secured under his management.

The Vila das Aves side has struggled in both attack and defense, netting only 18 goals this season, which is the third lowest in the league, while they’ve conceded a league-high 54 goals.

Of their 18 goals, 10 have been scored at home, but a stretch of four consecutive league matches without a goal presents a significant concern, and Henriques is likely to be anxious about both chance creation and finishing from his players.

On the other hand, Santa Clara broke an 11-match winless streak by overcoming Vitória Guimarães in their last league encounter.

This victory marked their fifth of the 2025–26 campaign, but it wasn’t enough to lift them out of the relegation playoff position.

Currently, they are in 16th place, tied on 22 points with Nacional, who sit just above the relegation zone, meaning the visitors still have a reasonable chance to escape the drop after the latest round of fixtures.

After finishing fifth last season, fans anticipated that the Azoreans would capitalize on their strong performance in their first season back in the top flight, but they have been underwhelming this year.

The focus now is on evading relegation, but with a few matches remaining in the season, they need to start posting positive results to aid their survival bid.

Team News

AVS heads into this match with minimal injury concerns, giving the hosts an almost fully fit squad to choose from as they prepare to host fellow strugglers Santa Clara.

Antoine Baroan is the only player ruled out with a broken leg, and Guillem Molina is also unavailable due to a broken fibula, meaning both players will miss out on the manager’s plans for this weekend.

That said, there is not expected to be any major changes in the squad selection for the hosts, with Tomane and Duarte likely to spearhead the attack.

Similarly, Santa Clara boasts a relatively healthy squad, with only José Tavares missing due to suspension from accumulating yellow cards.

Left-back Matheus Araujo is recovering from a cruciate ligament injury, which has kept him out of the squad, and he is not anticipated to travel with the team.

Apart from that, Armando Goncalves Teixeira, known as Petit, has all his other players available for selection ahead of this match.

AVS probable starting XI:

Adriel; Rivas, Paulo Vitor, Devenish, Mateus Pivo; Mendonca, Roni, Algobia; Duarte, Tomane, Akinsola

Santa Clara probable starting XI:

Gabriel Batista; Lucas Soares, Venancio, Lima, Guilherme Romao; Serginho, Ferreira, Gustavo Klismahn; Vinícius Lopes, Fernando, Gabriel Silva

Both teams have been poor throughout this season and are facing the looming threat of relegation. As they approach this encounter, both squads will be eager to secure a win to aid their fight against the drop, yet their current form leaves much to be desired, with neither able to assert a winning advantage; thus, we anticipate a 1-1 draw in this match.