Rio Ave - Santa Clara predictions

Rio Ave have their work cut out for them if they want to beat Santa Clara. They are widely considered to be the weaker team – though the difference is not huge, to be fair. Overall, it’s shaping up to be an exciting showdown.

No outcome of this match would catch us by surprise. It’s a rarely fair matchup, though that’s not always good for betting. Currently, though, Santa Clara are somewhat more likely to triumph with betting odds of 2.53 on them winning.

In a surprising turn of events, Rio Ave took the lead in the early stages of their previous Primeira Liga match at Alverca . The lead withered away into a 1:1 draw in the second half - which still counts as a moderate success considering the overwhelming odds they were up against.

Santa Clara were heavily underpriced for their latest Primeira Liga showdown at Sporting CP. The top online bookmakers made a good prediction by making them underdogs but fair play to Santa Clara for putting up a fight. Having held on to a draw in the first part of the game, they went down with only a one-goal difference.

With more than 5 conceded goals over their latest 3 fixtures, Rio Ave’s performance leaves something to be desired. That said, savvy punters could be able to exploit this – think BTTS or Over 5 Goals markets, for example.

Though most of the season is still ahead, Santa Clara have had a rather disappointing start. Though they still have 5 points between them and the relegation zone, moving up will be difficult. Bookmakers agree that there are no hard favourites in this match.

The absence of injuries or suspensions means both teams will have their full lineups at their disposal for a thrilling matchup.

Over 2.5 Goals is easily the safest bet when it comes to this matchup. The best part is that it also maintains a decent betting value, especially if you use the 2.30 odds offered at 888Sport.