Arouca will be looking to surge from the bottom of the Portuguese Primeira Liga standings when they play host to Santa Clara at the Estadio Municipal de Arouca on Sunday.
Having lost the last three meetings between the two teams, Os Acoreanos will head into the weekend looking to get one over the home side and strengthen their position in the upper echelons of the table.
Match preview
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Arouca continue to struggle for results at the wrong end of the Primeira Liga standings as they suffered a 2-1 defeat against Estrela Amadora at the Estadio Jose Gomes last Monday.
Jason struck after just four minutes to hand the visitors a dream start to the game but Tiago Esgaio netted a 58th-minute own goal to gift Estrela an equaliser before Rodrigo Pinho turned the game on its head with a 68th-minute effort.
Arouca have now failed to win their last six matches across all competitions, picking up one draw and losing five, including a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Farense in the Taca de Portugal fourth round on November 23.
Vasco Seabra's men have now lost eight of their 13 Primeira Liga matches so far while claiming two wins and two draws to collect eight points and sit rock-bottom in the standings, but could move level with 14th-placed Boavista with a win this weekend.
Having finished seventh in the standings last term, Arouca's poor campaign has been owing to their struggles in attack as they have netted the fewest number of goals so far (7) while allowing 24 at the opposite end of the pitch.
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Arouca, on the other hand, turned in another dominant home display last Friday as they picked up a 1-0 victory over Rio Ave when the two teams squared off at the Estadio de Sao Miguel.
Brazilian forward Vinicius Lopes continued his fine form in front of goal as he netted the only goal of the game in the 36th minute to hand Santa Clara a sixth straight home victory.
With that result, Vasco Matos's men have now won four back-to-back matches across all competitions, including a 1-0 victory over Famalicao at the Estadio Municipal de Famalicao in the fourth round of the Taca de Portugal.
Os Acoreanos have won nine of their 13 Primeira Liga games so far while losing four to collect 27 points and sit fourth in the league standings, six points adrift of first-placed Sporting Lisbon.
While Santa Clara will be looking to continue from where they left off against Rio Ave and make it five victories on the trot, next up is the challenge of an opposing side whom they have failed to get the better of in their last four encounters, including three defeats in each of their most recent three encounters.
Team News
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Arouca will take to the pitch without the services of Kouassi Eboue and Croatian defender Nino Galovic, who have been sidelined through muscle and knee injuries respectively.
Oriol Busquets has been out of action since coming off injured against Vitoria de Guimaraes on May 18 and the Spanish midfielder will play no part in this weekend's matchup.
Veteran midfielder David Simao was forced injured right on the stroke of half time against Estrela last time out and the 34-year-old is a major doubt for the home side.
As for Santa Clara, Matos will be unable to call upon the services of Portuguese defender Pedro Pacheco, who has been sidelined since sustaining a severe knee injury back in May.
Lopes has been a standout performer for Os Acoreanos this season and the 25-year-old forward, who boasts seven goal involvements this season, will be one to keep an eye on.
Arouca possible starting lineup:
Mantl; Esgaio, Lamba, Fontan, Dante; Loum, Santos; Jason, Sylla, Trezza; Araujo
Santa Clara possible starting lineup:
Batista; Lima, Rocha, Pereira; Calila, Lobo, Firmino, Nunes; Lopes, Silva, Klismahn
We say: Arouca 0-2 Santa Clara
Santa Clara have returned to the top flight with fire in their bellies and find themselves strongly competing in the upper echelons of the standings. Matos's men take on a floundering Arouca side who have won just two of their 13 matches so far and we predict they will come away with all three points at the Estadio Municipal de Arouca.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
