Preview: Arouca vs. Pacos de Ferreira - prediction, team news, lineups

The visitors will head into the weekend looking to get one over the Arouquenses, having failed to win any of their previous seven meetings between the teams since November 2016.

Match preview

Arouca continue to stake their claim for a place in Europe as they secured a 2-0 victory away to Vitoria de Guimaraes when the side last Saturday.

Following a goalless first half at the Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques, Rafa Mujica and Antony Alves scored second-half goals to fire Arouca to their first away win since December.

Following last weekend's victory, Armando Evangelista's side are now unbeaten in three consecutive games, picking up seven points from a possible nine since a 2-0 loss at the hands of Braga on February 19.

Arouca have now picked up 10 wins, seven draws and lost seven of their 24 matches to collect 37 points and sit sixth in the Primeira Liga table, three points off the Conference League qualification places.

The Arouquenses' surge up the table has been owing to their superb run of results on home turf, where they have won four of their five matches since the turn of the year, with January's 3-0 loss to Benfica being the exception.

Elsewhere, veteran defender Vitorino Antunes was the hero for Pacos de Ferreira as he scored the only goal of the game to hand the Pacenses a slender 1-0 victory over Santa Clara last Saturday.

Following an uneventful first half at the Estadio Capital do Movel, 35-year-old Antunes made no mistake from 12 yards as he converted his 54th-minute penalty with aplomb to sink Os Acoreanos in a thrilling bottom-of-the-table clash.

Prior to that, Cesar Peixoto's men were on a run of two back-to-back defeats as they were beaten 3-1 by Boavista on February 26 before suffering a 2-1 loss at the hands of Casa Pia five days later.

With 15 points from 24 matches, Pacos de Ferreira are currently 18th in the Primeira Liga standings, level on points with 17th-placed Santa Clara and one behind Maritimo in the relegation playoffs spot.

Following last Saturday's victory over Santa Clara, the Pacenses now set out to secure consecutive wins for the first time this season against an Arouca side who are winless in their last seven meetings and have managed just one win in their last 17 encounters since November 2008.

Arouca Primeira Liga form:

D

W

L

W

D

W

Pacos de Ferreira Primeira Liga form:

W

L

W

L

L

W

Team News

Arouca will be without the services of Brazilian forward Vitinho, who continues his long journey to full fitness after suffering a knee injury back in October.

Sema Velazquez returned from a four-month injury lay-off in a five-minute cameo against Vitoria de Guimaraes last time out and the 32-year-old should be included in the matchday squad on Saturday.

English defender Jerome Opoku has also been sidelined through an injury, while 24-year-old Oday Dabbagh suffered a muscle problem against Casa Pia on February 25.

Pacos de Ferreira, meanwhile, remain without Portuguese youngster Matchoi Djalo, who suffered an injury against Boavista on February 26.

Off the back of a solid display against Santa Clara, Peixoto could name an unchanged XI on Saturday, meaning we could see a back four of Juan Delgado, Nuno Lima, Maracas and Antunes once again.

Rui Pires and Jordan Holsgrove were solid in the aforementioned game and should retain their roles at the centre of the park, while Granada loanee Adrian Butzke should spearhead the attack.

Arouca possible starting lineup:

Arruabarrena; Milovanov, Basso, Galovic, Correia; Ruiz, Soro, Simao; Mujica, Sylla, Antony

Pacos de Ferreira possible starting lineup:

Marafona; Delgado, Lima, Maracas, Antunes; Bernardo, Pires, Holsgrove, Thomas; Gaitan, Butzke

We say: Arouca 1-2 Pacos de Ferreira

Arouca have put together a solid run of results in recent weeks as they continue their hunt for a first appearance in Europe since the 2016-17 campaign. However, we predict Pacos de Ferreira will build on their impressive display against Santa Clara and pick up a slender victory.

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