Vitoria de Guimaraes will look to put an end to a three-game losing run on Sunday, when they welcome Tondela to the Estadio D. Afonso Henriques.

After a poor run of form of their own, Tondela have dropped to 12th spot in the Primeira Liga table, with just a four-point gap between themselves and the bottom three, while the hosts sit in sixth spot despite their recent dip.

Match preview

Before the international break, Vitoria de Guimaraes suffered a narrow defeat away at league leaders Sporting Lisbon, as centre-back Goncalo Inacio netted the only goal of the game on the stroke of half time.

While that result is by no means disappointing, they will be discouraged by the previous result, which saw them fall to a 4-2 defeat away at strugglers Gil Vicente.

The visitors took a two-goal lead on two separate occasions, but goals from Diogo Rochinha and Ruben Lameiras kept the match close until an 80th-minute Lucas Mineiro goal put the game out of sight.

They were again beaten comfortably before that, as Lucas Piazon, Abel Ruiz and Andraz Sporar fired Braga to a 3-0 home victory over Joao Henriques's side.

As a result of that poor run, the Guimaraes outfit have fallen well behind the Primeira Liga's top five, with the gap between themselves and fifth-placed Pacos de Ferreira now standing at nine points.

Henriques will be desperate for his side to reverse their fortunes in this game, with the international break possibly providing a clean slate for them to rebuild their season.

However, they take on a Tondela side who will be desperate for a crucial win to put some more space between themselves and the drop zone.

Pako Ayestaran's side looked set to seal a victory away at Santa Clara last time out, after Mario Gonzalez put them 1-0 ahead on the stroke of half time, and with the hosts reduced to nine men with 10 minutes to go.

However, centre-back Yohan Tavares turned the ball into his own net in the fourth minute of added time, to see his side come away with a point after so nearly taking all three.

Before that, CDT Auriverdes suffered late disappointment again, as their game at home to league leaders Sporting Lisbon remained goalless until Tiago Tomas netted the winner in the 82nd minute.

That dip in form has seen Ayestaran's men drop back into the relegation mix, currently sitting in 11th spot, but just four points above the automatic drop zone.

As a result, he will be desperate to put a crucial victory on the board on Saturday, which could see them put some more distance between themselves and the bottom three, but to do that they will need to reverse the form which has seen them drop points late on in both their last two matches.

Team News

Vitoria de Guimaraes will remain without midfielder Joseph Amoah, who is yet to feature this campaign due to a muscle injury.

Meanwhile, they could also be missing right-back Silvio and midfielder Jacob Maddox, as both players have been absent since December.

Midfielder Pepelu will also be out for this game through suspension, after he was shown his fifth yellow card of the season in the defeat to Sporting Lisbon.

However, they will welcome centre-back Abdul Mumin back to action, after he served a suspension last time out for a red card.

Attacker Ruben Lameiras will be hoping to return to the starting side, after he netted his first Victoria goal since joining from Famalicao in January.

Tondela's only notable absentee could be right-back Bebeto, who has missed four of the last five games with injury concerns, while he featured for just half an hour in that time.

The line will be led by Villarreal loanee Mario Gonzalez, who has netted seven goals in 17 league games this season.

Vitoria de Guimaraes possible starting lineup:
Varela; Sacko, Fernandes, Mumin, Mensah; Andre, Almeida, Edwards; Rochinha, Estupinan, Lameiras

Tondela possible starting lineup:
Trigueira; Almeida, Tavares, Alves, Ferreira; Pedro, Jaquite, Olabe; Murillo, Gonzalez, Khacef

We say: Vitoria de Guimaraes 2-1 Tondela

While Vitoria de Guimaraes have been far from their best recently, we still expect them to come good at some point, thanks to their strong mix of attacking and defensive players.

Henriques's side should have just enough to get past a Tondela side who have struggled to see out results recently, and look to be falling worryingly close to the relegation places.