Rio Ave vs Nacional — Tips & Analysis

Under 2.5: Neither of these teams can score, and that is the whole case here. Rio Ave manage under a goal a game and have won only 3 of their last 15. Their last four outings brought almost nothing going forward. Nacional are in worse shape. They have lost five games in a row, they score 1 goal a game, and they barely score at all on their travels. They are also down to the bare bones. Liziero, Filipe Soares, Wesley Gasolina, Ulisses Wilson and Leo Santos are all out, and Matheus Dias is suspended after his red card against Famalicao. A patched up side on a five game losing run is not about to start trading goals. The history backs it up. The last 20 meetings averaged just over 2 goals a game, and nine of them were tied. These two sit 15th and 16th on four points each, so losing is the bigger fear for both. They have been idle for three weeks, which rarely makes for an open game. A 1-1 is the likeliest finish, and that is exactly the game we want. The worry is Rio Ave at the back. They let in almost 2 goals a game and they have a new head coach, so their shape is still unclear. One loose spell could turn this into a scrappy three goal night. Even so, two sides this blunt should keep the goals down.