The Primeira Liga clash at Estádio da Madeira on Saturday sees home side Nacional go into battle with opponents Rio Ave.
View all Nacional v Rio Ave tips, stats and our pre-match poll below - along with the latest match odds.
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Form Guide
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Nacional
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Nacional will be hoping for a better result after the 1-2 Primeira Liga losing effort in their last game against Vitória Guimarães.
In that match, Nacional managed 46% possession and 16 attempts at goal with 2 of them on target. The only player on the scoresheet for Nacional was Fuki Yamada (73'). On the other side, Vitoria SC had 11 shots at goal with 4 on target. Tiago Silva (13') and Jesús Ramírez (64') scored for Vitória Guimarães.
It has not been often in recent times that Nacional haven’t conceded. In fact, Nacional have failed to prevent opponents from scoring in 5 of their previous 6 games, leaking 8 goals during that time.
Coming into this clash, Nacional are without a home win in the past 3 matches in the league.
Rio Ave
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Rio Ave come into this encounter after a 2-0 Primeira Liga win as they beat Estrela Amadora in their previous outing.
In the course of their 6 latest matches, Armando Petit's Rio Ave have slotted home a total of 6 times thus yielding them a goals scored per game average of 1.
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Head to head
An examination of their most recent head to head meetings dating back to 17/03/2019 tells us that Nacional have won 1 of these games & Rio Ave 4, with the number of draws standing at 1.
A combined total of 10 goals were scored between the two sides in this period, with 4 for Os Alvinegros and 6 created by Rio Grande . The average goals per game has been 1.67.
The previous league encounter featuring the two was Primeira Liga match day 16 on 29/12/2024 which ended up with the score at Rio Ave 2-1 Nacional.
In that match, Rio Ave had 49% possession and 20 shots at goal with 7 of them on target. Their only player on the scoresheet was Clayton (26', 73').
Nacional got 13 shots on goal with 2 of them on target. Bruno Costa (34') scored.
The referee was Gonçalo Neves.
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Team News: Nacional
It doesn’t get much better regarding selection, with just the sole fitness concern for the Nacional boss Tiago Margarido to contend with thanks to an almost full-strength group. Miguel Baeza (unknown injury) is out of contention.
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Team News: Rio Ave
In an otherwise healthy squad, there’s just a single fitness worry for the Rio Ave manager Armando Petit to be concerned with. Brandon Aguilera (unknown injury) misses out for this game.
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Prediction
Looking at these two teams, we feel that Rio Ave might well have a job on their hands to score against this Nacional side who we reckon should get the vital goal that wins it.
We’re therefore tipping a very competitive game with a 1-0 winning margin for Nacional when the full-time whistle blows.
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⚽️ What are the top odds for this match?
Looking at what the bookmakers’ view is of this game on the WDW market, the win for Nacional is best priced at 1.95, a bet on the draw is 3.5 and betting on the win for Rio Ave can be had at 3.9. Those are the most competitive returns on offer as of now.
Victor Martins,
07:05 06/05/2025
Odds correct at time of publishing. All odds subject to change.
⚽️ Team Focus:
Nacional
Formed: 1910
Stadium: Estádio da Madeira (5,586)
Captain: João Aurélio
Chairman: Rui António Macedo Alves
Manager: Tiago Margarido
Competitions: Primeira Liga position 13
⭐ Key Player: Daniel Penha
Mostly taking to the field in the Central Attacking Midfielder position, Daniel Penha was born in Brazil. Having played his first senior match for Newcastle United Jets in the 2021 - 2022 season, the skilful Midfielder has scored 4 league goals in this Liga Portugal 2024 - 2025 campaign to date in a total of 29 appearances.