Arouca and Vizela renew acquaintances for the second time in two weeks when they go head to head at the Estadio Municipal de Arouca in round 19 of the Primeira Liga on Sunday.
Both sides locked horns for a place in the Taca de Portugal quarter-finals on January 10, with the Vizelenses running out winners thanks to a late own goal from Nino Galovic at the Estadio do FC Vizela.
Match preview
Arouca picked up their first win of the year last Saturday as they edged out Estoril Praia 2-1 when the sides squared off at the Estadio Antonio Coimbra da Mota.
Rafik Guitane opened the scoring inside the opening three minutes to put the hosts in front but Rafa Mujica restored parity eight minutes later, before Tiago Esgaio netted on the stroke of half time to complete the comeback.
Prior to that, Daniel Sousa's men were on a run of three consecutive defeats in their three games to start the year, including a 1-0 loss at the hands of Vizela in their Taca de Portugal fifth-round clash on January 10.
After three consecutive games on the road, Arouca now return home where they are unbeaten in three of their last four games across all competitions — claiming two wins and one draw — with a 3-0 loss against title-chasing Benfica on January 6 being the exception.
The Arouquenses have now picked up five wins, four draws and lost nine of their 18 Primeira Liga matches to collect 19 points and sit 10th in the table, level on points with Gil Vicente and Casa Pia, and three points above the relegation playoff spot.
Vizela, on the other hand, failed to move out of the automatic relegation places as they suffered a 5-2 hammering against Sporting Lisbon at the Estadio do FC Vizela.
Despite efforts from Alberto Soro and Samuel Essende, goals from Francisco Trincao, Paulinho, Sebastian Coates and a brace from Vitor Gyokeres helped Sporting Lisbon maintain their one-point lead at the top of the table.
With that result, Vizela have now gone eight consecutive league games without a win, losing four and picking up four draws since a 1-0 victory over Casa Pia at the Estadio Pina Manique on November 5.
Ruben de la Barrera's men have collected 13 points from their 18 Primeira Liga matches to sit bottom but one in the league table, just one point above last-placed Chaves and four away from safety.
While Vizela have struggled to get going on home turf, they have fared decently on their travels, where they are unbeaten in six of their last seven outings across all competitions, picking up two wins and four draws since the start of September.
Next up for the Vizelenses is an opposing side who they have failed to get the better of in each of their last three league encounters, losing twice and claiming one draw since a 2-1 victory in April 2022.
Team News
Arouca will take to the pitch without the midfield duo of 34-year-old Pedro Moreira and former Barcelona man Oriol Busquets, who are currently recuperating from injuries.
Brazilian defender Quaresma has been sidelined since last August and will play no part in Sunday's game while fellow countryman Vitinho is set to sit out his sixth consecutive game through injury.
Portuguese forward Pedro Carvalho is currently suspended after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season against Estoril last time out and will play no part in Sunday's clash.
Vizela, meanwhile, will be without experienced midfielder Osama Rashid, who is currently away with the Iraq national team at the ongoing Asian Cup.
On the injury front, the Vizelenses remain without the attacking duo of Guinea-Bissau's Jardel and 28-year-old Dylan Saint-Louis, who continue their spells on the sidelines.
Spanish midfielder Pedro Ortiz has missed Vizela's last four matches after coming off injured against Moreirense back in December and is also a major doubt for this weekend's game.
Arouca possible starting lineup:
Arruabarrena; Esgaio, Rocha, Montero, Milovanov; Simao, Eboue; Jason, Sylla; Gonzalez; Mujica
Vizela possible starting lineup:
Buntic; Oliveira, Escoval, Wilson, Pereira; Samu, Bustamante; Soro, Nascimento, Lacava; Essende
We say: Arouca 3-1 Vizela
Arouca and Vizela head into the weekend off the back of contrasting results, with the Vizelenses looking to bounce back from their humbling defeat against Sporting Lisbon. However, we predict that Sousa's side will pick up where they left off against Estoril and secure a third win in five league games.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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