Preview: Arouca vs. Vitoria de Guimaraes - prediction, team news, lineups

Having failed to pick up a win in their last three games, Arouca welcome Vitoria de Guimaraes to the Estadio Municipal de Arouca on Saturday.

The visitors, on the other hand, head into the game unbeaten in their most recent four outings and will be looking to maintain this solid run of results.

Match preview

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Arouca's string of poor performances continued last Monday, when they played out a 2-2 draw against 10-man Maritimo at the Estadio do Maritimo.

After going ahead through Andre Bukia's eighth-minute opener, Ricardinho and Ali Alipour scored for the hosts to turn the game around heading into the interval, before Andre Silva opened his account for the season in the 82nd minute to force a share of the spoils.

Prior to that, the Arouquenses fell to a 3-0 defeat at the hands of title-chasing Porto, when Mateus Uribe, Mehdi Taremi and Ivan Marcano scored to hand the Dragoes their third win of the season.

Armando Evangelista's side have now managed one win from their opening five games in the Portuguese top flight, picking up one draw and losing three.

Thiathas been down to their struggles at both ends of the pitch, as they have scored just thrice so far while conceding the second most goals in the league with 12.

While Arouca will be looking to get up and running this weekend, they face an opposing side who have won each of the previous three meetings between the teams and are unbeaten in the last eight since 2014.

Vitoria de Guimaraes, on the other hand, played out a second consecutive goalless draw last time out when they faced Belenenses at the Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques.

Despite being on the back foot for most of the game, Czech Republic goalkeeper Matous Trmal put on another eye-catching performance as he made a plethora of saves to keep his side in the game and deny O Belem all three points.

Os Vimaranenses are unbeaten in each of their most recent four outings since the opening-day 1-0 defeat against Portimonense, picking up six points from 12 available.

While Pepa will be satisfied with the superb display at the defensive end of the pitch, where they have not conceded since the aforementioned game, he will need to address his side's struggles in offense as they have failed to score in four of their five games.

Next up for Vitoria de Guimaraes is a Taca da Liga Group A opener against second tier Covilha, while Arouca take a trip to the Estadio Comendador Joaquim de Almeida Freitas to take on Moreirense.

Team News

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Evangelista will be unable to call upon the services of Venezuelan defender Sema Velazquez, who missed the game last time out after sustaining an injury while on international duty against Argentina.

Newly-signed Brazilian midfielder Antony Santos continues to wait for his debut as he makes his long journey to full fitness after sustaining a severe injury that has kept him out of action since March, while fellow midfielder Moses Yaw misses out through an ankle problem.

Brazilian goalkeeper Victor Braga could start between the sticks, having served a three-game suspension for picking up a straight red against Benfica on August 14.

As for Vitoria de Guimaraes, Toni Borevkovic and Alfa Semedo will miss the game after receiving their marching orders in the game against Belenenses last time out.

With that said, Jorge Fernandes and Tomas Handel could come in for the aforementioned duo and slot into the heart of the defence and midfield respectively.

Arouca possible starting lineup:

Castro; Thales, Ba, Basso, Quaresma; Valderrama, Silva, Moreira; Bukia, Silva, Arsenio

Vitoria de Guimaraes possible starting lineup:

Varela; Sacko, Mumin, Fernandes, Soares; Almeida, Handel, Andre; Rochinha, Estupinan, Quaresma

We say: Arouca 1-2 Vitoria de Guimaraes

Vitoria de Guimaraes have enjoyed a decent start to the season and could now move into the top half of the table with a win. Arouca, meanwhile, will head into the game in sky-high spirits following their resilient display against Maritimo last time out.

While we expect the hosts to put up a fight, we see Os Vimaranenses extending their dominance in this fixture and claiming the win.