- 1 Rio Ave vs Famalicao: Seabra’s two wins against a dugout with nobody permanent in it
- 2 Rio Ave: 17 conceded in eight, but Blesa has given Seabra a starting point
- 3 Famalicao: four league draws and a coach gone after one win in nine
- 4 Free Football Prediction: Rio Ave vs Famalicao
- 5 About our free predictions
- 6 No commitment from us
- 7 Information changes
- 8 Your responsibility
- 9 Responsible gambling
- 10 Legal age
- 11 About visuals
Rio Ave vs Famalicao: Seabra’s two wins against a dugout with nobody permanent in it 
Famalicao dismissed Carlos Carvalhal by mutual consent on 19 October, a day after a 1-0 Taça de Portugal defeat at third-tier Paredes. He’d won one of his nine competitive matches in charge. Assistant Ricardo Silva is expected to take the side to Vila do Conde on Sunday 25 October, kick-off 18:00 UK time, with no permanent successor named.
Rio Ave went through the same process a few weeks earlier. Sotiris Silaidopoulos was sacked after taking four points from the first seven league games, and Vasco Seabra, the former Arouca coach, was appointed in early October. His first league match brought a 3-2 win over Nacional, and his second was a 1-0 cup win at Louletano settled in stoppage time.
The table explains why this game matters to both. Each side has seven points from eight matches. Famalicao are 13th on goal difference, Rio Ave 14th, and a defeat here would push the loser further into the bottom half before the end of October.
It’s also a meeting that has produced very little in recent seasons. The last six league games between them ended 1-1, 2-1, 1-1, 1-0, 0-0 and 0-0, and the two most recent, in September 2025 and March 2026, were both goalless. At the Estadio dos Arcos, Famalicao have won once and drawn five times on their last six visits.
That history sits awkwardly alongside Rio Ave’s defensive record this season, which is one of the worst in the division. The missing coach on the Famalicao side, and the way both teams have played each other lately, are why I still expect a tight game rather than an open one.
Rio Ave: 17 conceded in eight, but Blesa has given Seabra a starting point 
Rio Ave have conceded 17 league goals in eight matches, the second-highest total in the division behind Nacional. The bulk of that damage came in a short spell: a 4-0 home defeat by Sporting, a 4-0 loss at Santa Clara and a 3-3 draw with Estrela Amadora in consecutive league games.
Home form has been weak for a long time. Rio Ave have won one of their last eight top-flight matches at the Estadio dos Arcos, a run that stretches back into last season, and that one win was the 3-2 against Nacional in Seabra’s first game. They played the last 35 minutes of that match with ten men after Joao Tome was sent off in the 55th minute.
The player who decided it was Jalen Blesa. He scored the winner against Nacional, then scored again in stoppage time at Louletano to take Rio Ave into the fourth round of the cup. He’s scored in three of his last four appearances in all competitions and has three league goals, so he’ll lead the line again.
Tome is back after his one-match suspension, which helps a back four that needs its regulars. Cezary Miszta is expected to miss out with a back injury, so Hugo should keep goal, and Brandon Aguilera is still recovering from a cruciate ligament problem.
Seabra has had two matches and two wins, which is a decent start for a coach brought in to stop a slide. The 3-2 against Nacional, though, came against the one side in the league with a worse defence than Rio Ave’s. Sunday asks a different question: whether his side can stay compact against a team that has drawn four of its eight league games.
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Famalicao: four league draws and a coach gone after one win in nine 
Famalicao finished fifth last season, and the drop in level since then is hard to separate from the departure of Hugo Oliveira to Strasbourg in July. Carvalhal never found a winning formula, and the side drew 0-0 with Gil Vicente, 2-2 at Estrela Amadora and 1-1 with Sporting in successive league games.
The one league win came at Nacional, 4-0, and it looked like the start of something. Instead it was followed by a 4-1 home defeat to Alverca, which ended a four-match unbeaten league run, and then the cup exit at Paredes. That sequence is what cost Carvalhal his job.
Away from home they’ve been hard to beat without being dangerous. One win in four league away games, two draws and one defeat, the defeat a 1-0 loss at Santa Clara. In their last six league games they’ve scored more than twice only once, in that 4-0 at Nacional.
Georgios Koutsias is the main goal threat, with five league goals, but he hasn’t scored in his last two appearances. Without him finding the net, Famalicao have relied on draws, which fits a team whose season has been more about not losing than about winning.
Matheus Mattara, 20, is a doubt after being forced off against Alverca and missing the Paredes defeat. With an interim coach likely in charge and no time to change much, expect the same 4-2-3-1 shape with Pena and Szucs sitting in front of the defence.
Probable lineup Rio Ave: Hugo; Tome, Ntoi, Mancha, Vrousai; Liavas, Patricio; Clemmensen, Sellouki, Bezerra; Blesa
Probable lineup Famalicao: Ceravic; Pinheiro, Rofino, Van Breemen, Bondo; Pena, Szucs; Beeney, De Amorim, Sorriso; Koutsias
Free Football Prediction: Rio Ave vs Famalicao
Our prediction: Under 2.5 goals (odds 1.74)
The last six league meetings between these sides all finished with two goals or fewer, and the last two were goalless. Famalicao’s visits to the Estadio dos Arcos have produced five draws and one away win in six, which is the profile of a fixture both sides approach carefully.
Rio Ave’s defence is the obvious risk to this pick, since they’ve conceded 17 in eight and were part of a 3-3 and a 3-2 at home. The counterweight is Famalicao’s attack, which has scored two or fewer in five of its last six league games, and an interim coach who is more likely to protect a point than chase three.
Famalicao are favourites at 2.01, but I don’t trust either side enough to back a result. Under 2.5 goals at 1.74 follows the head-to-head record and the caution both teams are likely to bring to a game neither can afford to lose.
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