Gameweek 23's action in the Primeira Liga will get underway on Friday night when Arouca will take on Famalicao at Estadio Municipal de Arouca.
With just two points separating these two in a compact mid-table, victory for the visitors will see them leapfrog their opponents into seventh place, while the hosts will be able to cut the gap to four points to sixth-placed Moreirense if they can take all three points on home soil.
Match preview
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After an average first half of the season, Arouca found some form midway through January and climbed into the upper half of the Primeira Liga table after securing a 2-1 win against Portimonense at the start of this month.
They followed that up with an eyebrow-raising 3-2 win over Porto a week later, but they saw their four-match winning streak brought to a halt with a 1-0 loss away to Casa Pia last weekend on the road.
With that, Arouquenses are now on 28 points after 22 league games (W8 D4 L10) and trail Braga, who are currently occupying the final European qualification position, by 15 points heading into this weekend's fixtures.
Daniel Sousa and co will be looking forward to returning to their home patch, though, where they have found solid attacking form lately, scoring 13 goals in their last five matches, including eight in their last two.
While the hosts did lose the reverse fixture 1-0 back in September last year, they have won each of the last three matches against this opponent at this venue, including a commanding 4-1 victory last season.
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Meanwhile, Famalicao snapped a three-match winless streak (W0 D1 L3) with a 2-1 win over Rio Ave last weekend, thanks to a brace by Jhonder Cadiz following a first-half opener by Abdul-Aziz Yakubu.
That result saw Joao Pedro Sousa's side move up two places to eighth in the league standings with 26 points, including six wins, eight draws and seven losses, though it was also only their second victory in 11 games in all competitions.
While the three points were undoubtedly welcomed, Sousa would likely have been much happier with his side's defensive performance in the latter part of the match following three consecutive games where his side had conceded in the final 10 minutes of regulation time.
Famalicenses have managed to take a total of 11 points from a possible 33 in away matches this season (W2 D5 L4) and will be looking to avoid a third successive match without victory following a 1-0 loss to Moreirense and a 1-1 draw against Farense in their last two outings.
Team News
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Sousa named an unchanged 11 last weekend in their loss to Casa Pia from a week earlier and may consider handing Oriol Busquets a start after another bright cameo off the bench.
In terms of injuries, Quaresma remains the only unavailable player for this match following knee surgery, and it remains unlikely that the left-back will play any further part in the current campaign.
The visitors have no new injury concerns to report and are likely to remain largely unchanged after securing that comeback victory over Rio Ave last weekend at Estadio Municipal 22 de Junho.
Cadiz took his tally to eight league goals with his brace last weekend and should continue to lead the line in front of the attacking midfield trio of Sorriso, Gustavo Sa and Chiquinho.
Arouca possible starting lineup:
De Arruabarrena; Weverson, Montero, Bambu, Esgaio; Santos, Simao; Jason, Gonzalez, Sylla; Mujica
Famalicao possible starting lineup:
Junior; Aguirregabiria, De Haas, Mihaj, Moura; Youssouf, Topic; Sorriso, Sa, Chiquinho; Cadiz
We say: Arouca 2-1 Famalicao
While Famalicao did manage to claim a much-needed morale-boosting victory last weekend, they have struggled on the road, winning just twice in 11 away games this term. Arouca, on the other hand, have won three of their last four on home soil, and we feel they will be able to edge this one as well.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
