Arouca face Sporting Lisbon in the semi-finals of Taca da Liga on Tuesday evening.
The one-legged tie will be held at Estadio Dr Magalhaes Pessoa, which was built as a venue for Euro 2004 and is now the home of third-tier side Uniao de Leiria.
Match preview
© Reuters
Having achieved consecutive promotions between 2019 and 2021 to reach Portugal's top tier for the first time in their history, Arouca are currently embarking on the club's most successful ever era.
Arouquenses avoided facing the dreaded relegation playoff places by only two points last season, but Armando Evangelista's side have kicked on another level so far during this campaign, with their 4-0 thrashing of Portimonense on Friday taking them up to sixth in the table.
As such, Evangelista may have his sights set on securing European football for the first time in the club's history, with Casa Pia only one point ahead of them in the Europa Conference League qualification spot.
In the meantime, though, the 49-year-old has already taken his side to the brink of their first ever cup final, too, even if Arouca will undoubtedly head to Leiria in midweek as underdogs.
© Reuters
However, after finally ending their 19-year wait to lift the Primeira Liga title in 2021 before finishing second last season, Sporting are not enjoying the strongest campaign so far.
Ruben Amorim's side have fallen 12 points behind league leaders Porto, with Braga and Benfica also looking tough to catch ahead of them given that they are eight and seven points in front respectively.
Having guided the club to their aforementioned historic title triumph, Amorim has plenty of kudos in the bank at Sporting, and they are still fighting for a European trophy in the form of the Europa League, with FC Midtylland awaiting them in the last 32 next month.
Sporting have won four of the last five Portuguese League Cup trophies, with Amorim in charge for the previous two, so the 37-year-old will firmly be expecting to reach another final by dispatching Arouca on Tuesday.
Team News
© Reuters
Arouca appear to have no injury or suspension concerns ahead of Tuesday's match, which is arguably one of the biggest in the entire club's history.
With his team not competing again for eight days after their semi-final tie, Evangelista is unlikely to see any reason to change a winning side after putting in an excellent performance against Portimonense last week.
Sporting, meanwhile, will travel without Luis Neto, Chico Lamba and Daniel Braganca due to injury.
Like their opponents, Verde e Brancos do not play again until their crucial league fixture against Braga next Wednesday, so Amorim has free reign to select a strong team as he aims to win Taca da Liga for the third successive season.
Arouca possible starting lineup:
De Arruabarrena; Esgaio, Basso, Galovic, Quaresma; Soro, Sylla; Arsenio, Ruiz, Antony; Dabagh
Sporting Lisbon possible starting lineup:
Adan; Inacio, Coates, Reis; Porro, Ugarte, Goncalves, Santos; Edwards, Trincao; Paulinho
We say: Arouca 1-2 Sporting Lisbon
Arouca should have plenty of motivation to perform well in the club's first ever domestic cup semi-final, especially having put together a decent run of results of late.
However, Sporting have become dominant in this competition in recent seasons and should have too much quality for their opponents in the end.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
