Rio Ave vs Nacional Prediction and Betting Tips | August 17th 2025 

Rio Ave and Nacional will battle for three points in a Primeira Liga round two clash on Sunday (August 17th). The game will be played at Estadio do Rio Ave.

This will be the first game of the season for the hosts. They finalized preparations for the new campaign with a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Al-Nassr in a friendly last week. Mohamed Simakan broke the deadlock in the 15th minute, while Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick ro complete the rout.

Vilacondenses were last involved in competitive action when they shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw at home to Gil Vicente in their final game of the 2024/25 season back in May.

Nacional, meanwhile, kick-started their new campaign with a 2-0 defeat at home to Gil Vicente last weekend. Pablo and Luis Esteves scored first half goals to help their opponents claim all three points.

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Rio Ave vs Nacional Head-to-Head and Key Numbers

• Rio Ave have 11 wins from the last 33 head-to-head games. Nacional were victorious nine times while 13 games ended in a share of the spoils.
• One of those draws came in their most recent clash in May 2025 when they canceled each other out in a 3-3 stalemate.
• Four of the last six head-to-head games have witnessed goals at both ends.
• Nacional are winless in their last six league games (four losses).
• Rio Ave have won just one of their last six competitive games (three draws).
• The home side have not lost any of the last five head-to-head games (three wins).

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Rio Ave vs Nacional Prediction

Rio Ave ended last season with a three-game unbeaten run and were also unbeaten in their first four pre-season games. However, they lost their last two games in preparation for the new campaign.

Nacional, for their part, lost four of their six pre-season friendlies. They carried this poor form over into their opening game of the campaign. They dominated proceedings from start to finish and were the better side against Gil Vicente but were unable to make their dominance count.

Although one side could nick a win here, backing the two sides to cancel each other out in a low-scoring stalemate.

Prediction: Rio Ave 1-1 Nacional

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Rio Ave vs Nacional Betting Tips

Tip 1 - Result: Draw

Tip 2 - Both teams to score

Tip 3 - Over 1.5 goals