Benfica will continue their pursuit of the top spot in the Primeira Liga on Saturday evening when they travel to face Arouca at Estadio Municipal de Arouca in their first league match of 2024.
The hosts ended last year in 10th place, with 16 points after 15 matches, while the visitors are second in the league standings with 36 points over the same period.
Match preview
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Arouca had an incredible 2022-23 season, finishing in fifth place with 54 points, but it has been a very different situation this term as they are firmly set in the mid-table and already 13 points behind the top five.
Arouquenses kicked the season off with a seven-goal thriller against Estoril, which they won 4-3, but that was pretty much the only positive you could pick out in their performances over the first three months of the league campaign.
The hosts then went on a run of three consecutive draws, followed by a dismal six consecutive losses between mid-September and the November international break, which ultimately led to the dismissal of now-former manager Daniel Ramos.
However, the change of management seems to have been exactly what they needed, as under the guidance of current boss Daniel Sousa, Arouca have taken 10 points from the last 12 on offer while the new manager is still unbeaten after his first four games in charge.
Still, while Arouca have shown major improvement, especially in attack, they are now preparing to face the defending champions, who currently possess the best defensive record in the league, with just 10 goals conceded in 15 games.
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The Eagles ended 2023 with a solid 3-0 win over Famalicao last week, which extended their excellent recent record to four wins in succession in all competitions while they are unbeaten in their last nine.
During that run of results, Roger Schmidt's side also booked their place in the last four of the Taca da Liga as well as in the Round of 16 of the Taca de Portugal, where they will face rivals Braga.
The only real blemish on their record this season was their Champions League campaign, where they finished in third place, though they did manage to edge out Salzburg to keep their European hopes alive, albeit in the Europa League.
Benfica have all the momentum coming into this match and will be expecting nothing less than three points from this match, having won each of the last seven encounters against this opponent dating all the way back to January 2016.
Team News
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Bogdan Milovanov returned to the Arouca starting lineup against Estrela, having served his red card suspension, and he should continue in defence here alongside Nino Galovic and Francisco Montero.
In terms of injuries, Quaresma is still sidelined and recovering from knee surgery, which should mean that Tiago Esgaio will continue at left-back for the foreseeable future.
Rafa Mujica has thrived under the new boss, bagging four goals in his last four matches, and he will almost certainly lead the line with Cristo Gonzalez in this one.
Meanwhile, Schmidt is dealing with something of an injury crisis heading into the New Year, with as many as six first-team players currently on the treatment table.
Two of the big-named players that are likely to miss out on this match are the Argentine duo of Nicolas Otamendi and Angel Di Maria, who have been granted leave for personal reasons.
Juan Bernat (muscle), Casper Tengstedt (thigh), David Neres (knee) and Alexander Bah are all likely to be out for at least the next month due to injury.
Arouca possible starting lineup:
de Arruabarrena; Milovanov, Galovic, Montero, Esgaio; Jason, Simao, Eboue, Sylla; Mujica, Gonzalez
Benfica possible starting lineup:
Trubin; Aursnes, A Silva, Araujo, Morato; Neves, Kokcu; Gouveia, R Silva, Mario; Cabral
We say: Arouca 1-2 Benfica
Arouca look like a new side under Daniel Sousa and have rattled off wins over Boavista, Gil Vicente, and Estrela in recent weeks, which would have done wonders for their confidence. However, Benfica is a much better side than the hosts have faced recently, and while The Eagles are short-handed heading into this contest, we fancy them to grind out another three points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Devesh Jaganath
