Two sides who suffered defeat in their most recent outing go toe to toe on Monday as Arouca play host to Vizela at the Estadio Municipal de Arouca.
This will be the first meeting between the sides since both gaining promotion into the top flight and they will be seeking to get one over the other.
Match preview
Arouca were sent crashing down to earth last Sunday when they fell to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of rock-bottom Santa Clara at the Estadio de Sao Miguel.
In a riveting first half, Brazilian forward Crysan put on a clinic as he scored either side of Arsenio Nunes's 45th-minute equaliser to inspire Os Acoreanos to just their second win of the season.
Prior to that, Armando Evangelista's side were in decent form and unbeaten in four consecutive games, claiming two wins and two draws since crashing out of the Taca de Portugal at the hands of bottom-tier Leca on October 17.
The defeat saw Arouca drop to 10th place in the Primeira Liga standings, nine points off the Conference League qualification places, after claiming 13 points from their opening 13 outings.
While the Arouquenses have been solid on home turf this season, their inconsistent string of results has been down to their struggles on the road, where they are yet to taste victory and and boast the league's third-poorest record with three points from seven games.
Meanwhile, Vizela failed to find their feet in the league as they were beaten 4-1 by a rampant Braga side last time out.
In a one-sided affair at the Estadio Braga Municipal, Ricardo Horta scored a first-half brace to put the hosts in a comfortable position, before Raul Silva and Abel Ruiz netted either side of Koffi Kouao's 72nd-minute strike to cap off a superb team performance.
Prior to that, Alvaro Pacheco's men secured a place in the next round of the Taca de Portugal when they claimed a 2-0 victory over Estrela thanks to goals in either half from Alex Mendez and Kiko Bondoso.
The Vizelenses have now failed to win any of their most recent 10 Primeira Liga games, stretching back to a slender 2-1 victory over Tondela in round two back in September.
This poor run of results sees Vizela sit in 15th place on the log, level on 10 points with Santa Clara in the relegation playoff spot and two above rock-bottom Belenenses.
While they will be looking to end this dry spell, next up is an opposing side who they failed to defeat in any of the two meetings between the sides in the Segunda Liga last season, losing one and picking up one draw.
- L
- W
- D
- W
- D
- L
- D
- D
- L
- D
- D
- L
- W
- L
- D
- D
- W
- L
Team News
Evangelista will be unable to call upon the services of Ghanaian midfielder Moses Yaw, who continues his spell on the sidelines with a severe knee problem.
Arouca also will be without the services of Venezuelan defender Jose Manuel Velazquez, who sustained a knee problem while on international duty back in September.
Another name on the club's injury table is Brazilian goalkeeper Fernando Augusto, who picked up an injury in the game against Sporting Lisbon back in October.
Vizela, on the other hand, remain without the services of veteran goalkeeper Ivo, who sustained an injury in October's Taca de Portugal win over Vitoria de Setubal.
Pacheco will also have to make do without the services of Igor Juliao after the Brazilian defender picked up an injury versus Benfica on October 24.
Arouca possible starting lineup:
Haymamba; Thales, Basso, Campi, Quaresma; L Silva, Eboue, Kouassi; Bukia, Nunes, Dabbagh
Vizela possible starting lineup:
Charles; Kouao, Aidara, Fernandes, Afonso; Evrard, Claudemir, Guzzo; Moreira, Mendez, Schettine
We say: Arouca 2-1 Vizela
Having both gained promotion into the top flight this season, this will be the first encounter between the sides and the game has all the makings of an absorbing contest. Arouca have been solid on home turf this season and we predict they will make use of their home advantage once again and come away with all three points.
Joshua Ojele
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Arouca win with a probability of 41.87%. A win for Vizela had a probability of 30.43% and a draw had a probability of 27.7%.
The most likely scoreline for an Arouca win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.25%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.44%) and 2-0 (7.95%). The likeliest Vizela win was 0-1 (10.03%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.01%). The actual scoreline of 1-4 was predicted with a 0.7% likelihood.
