Gil Vicente vs Riga FC -In the second leg of their second-round match last Thursday, Riga FC defeated Ruzomberok 2-1 to keep their spotless record in Conference League qualifying intact.
Hrvoje Babec and Finnish attacker Mikael Soisalo scored either side of Jan Maslo’s equaliser in the 53rd minute to give the Latvian team a victory after they won the first leg 3-0.
Prior to that, on July 24, Sandro Perkovic’s team defeated Spartaks 2-1 at home in the Latvian Virsliga after coming from behind thanks to goals from Marcelo Torres and Gabriel Ramos da Penha in the second half.
Since a 2-0 setback to Valmiera FC in the Latvian Cup round of 16 on July 10, Riga FC has won each of their past five games in all competitions, scoring 10 goals and allowing just two.
With eight shutouts and only six goals allowed in their last 12 games across all competitions since May, the hosts on Thursday come into the game in strong defensive shape.
Gil Vicente, who had a strong season in the 2021–22 Primeira Liga and ended fifth in the league standings, managed to gain a spot in the Conference League qualification spots.
The Gilistas finished the 2018–19 season with a stunning fifth-place finish, three points ahead of Vitoria de Guimaraes in the battle for the last Conference League qualification position. The team, which will be back in the top division in 2019, collected 51 points from their 34 games.
Gil Vicente enters play on Thursday following a strong preseason run in which they won 2-0 over Penafiel on July 13 and finished their preseason preparations with a 1-1 draw against Tondela, a rival Portuguese team, on July 22.
The men of Ivo Vieira now take the first step toward qualifying for the fourth round of the continental championship this year, where they will be hoping to compete and leave a good first impression.
However, since defeating Braga 1-0 at the Estadio Braga Municipal in March, they have gone four straight away games without a victory, losing three and drawing one.
Gil Vicente vs Riga FC – Betting Analysis
While Gil Vicente will be hoping to start their campaign strong, they will be up against a determined Riga FC team who have won all four of their games in the qualifying rounds.
Gil Vicente had a 48 percent possession advantage in that game and 5 of his 17 shots on goal were successful. Ali Alipour (85′) was the lone contributor on the scoresheet for Gil Vicente.
Riga FC has accumulated a total of 11 goals in their last six games. On each of those occasions, Riga FC was able to score a goal.
Gil Vicente vs Riga FC – Head-to-Head
Our Prediction: Under 3.5 Goals
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