Preview:Nacional vs Arouca - prediction, team news, lineups

Two sides who could do well with a win square off in round six of the Portuguese Primeira Liga as Nacional and Arouca go head to head on Saturday afternoon.

The Arouquenses are unbeaten in each of their last four visits to the Estadio da Madeira since August 2014 and will head into the weekend looking to extend this impressive streak.

Match preview

Nacional were quickly sent crashing back to earth in the Portuguese Primeira Liga as they fell to a 1-0 defeat against Porto when the two sides squared off at the Estadio do Dragao last Saturday.

Samu Aghehowa made no mistakes from the penalty spot as he calmly slotted home his third league goal of the campaign in the 31st minute to fire Porto to a seventh consecutive victory across all competitions.

Nacional had secured their first win of the new campaign in their final outing before the international break on August 30, when they edged out Casa Pia 2-0 at the Estadio Municipal de Rio Maior to end their five-game winless run across all competitions.

After two games on their travels, Tiago Margarido’s men now return to the Estadio da Madeira, where they have failed to taste victory in any of their last six Primeira Liga matches, picking up just one point from a possible 18 since claiming successive victories over Famalicao and Casa Pia in March.

While Nacional will be looking to end this poor run this weekend, they will need to be at their best against an opposing side who are unbeaten in nine of their last 10 meetings, picking up five wins and four draws since January 2015.

Like this weekend’s hosts, it was another disappointing outing for Arouca last Sunday when they suffered a 2-0 defeat against Casa Pia at the Estadio Municipal de Arouca.

Despite seeing just 34% of the ball possession, veteran forward Cassiano netted against the run of play to hand Casa Pia a 14th-minute lead before David Sousa made sure of the results with a 67th-minute strike to hand Os Gansos their second win of the campaign.

Arouca’s 3-1 victory over AVS on the opening weekend in August now seems ages ago as they have failed to taste victory in any of their subsequent four matches, claiming two draws and losing twice, including a 6-0 battering at the hands of Sporting Lisbon on August 17.

While Vasco Seabra’s men will be looking to return to winning ways this weekend, results on the road offer little optimism as Arouca are on a run of six successive league games without a win away from home (L3, D3) since March’s 1-0 victory at AVS.

Nacional Primeira Liga form:

Nacional form (all competitions):

Arouca Primeira Liga form:

Arouca form (all competitions):

Team News

Nacional remain without the services of Spanish midfielder Miguel Baeza, who continues his long road to full fitness after suffering a severe knee injury back in December.

Barring any late fitness concerns, Baeza remains the hosts’ only guaranteed absentee, giving head coach Margarido the luxury of a relatively full-strength squad at his disposal to select from.

As for Arouca, 22-year-old defender Arnau Sola has missed each of the last two matches and is a major doubt for this weekend’s matchup.

Pablo Gozalbez was on target to help Arouca secure a 2-1 victory over Nacional when the two teams met in February and the 24-year-old will be looking to deliver the goods once again.

Alfonso Trezza and Nais Djouahra have formed a deadly attacking partnership for the Arouquenses this season, with the duo contributing each of the club's seven league goals so far.

Nacional possible starting lineup:

Franca; Aurelio, Santos, Ze Vitor, Gomes; Liziero, Dias; Labidi, Ruan, Ramirez; Boia

Arouca possible starting lineup:

Valido, Esgaio, Fontan, Rocha, Dante; Fukui, Santos, Gozalbez; Nandin, Djouahra, Trezza

We say: Nacional 1-1 Arouca

It has been a slow start to the new campaign for Nacional and Arouca and we expect both sides to go all out at the Estadio da Madeira as they look to turn their fortunes around this weekend. Both sides are evenly matched on paper and we predict that they will cancel out each other’s efforts at the Estadio da Madeira.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.