Preview: Casa Pia vs Arouca - prediction, team news, lineups

Casa Pia will be looking to secure consecutive Primeira Liga home wins for the first time since November 2022 when they play host to Arouca in round 22 on Saturday.

While victory could see the home side pull five points clear of the danger zone, the Arouquenses will journey to the Estadio Municipal de Rio Maior in search of a third win on the spin as they push to break into the top half of the league standings.

Match preview

Having secured a stunning victory over league champions Porto a fortnight ago, Casa Pia returned to status quo in the Primeira Liga last Sunday when they played out a goalless draw with Nacional at the Estadio da Madeira.

Os Gansos saw just 31% of the ball possession, but Nacional failed to make the most of their large spells of dominance as they were guilty of a lack of cutting edge at the attacking end of the pitch, where they failed to tuck away multiple scoring opportunities.

This came just six days on from causing one of the biggest upsets so far this season, when Casa Pia held on to see out a 2-1 victory over Porto and hand the league leaders their first defeat of the campaign thanks to a 12th-minute strike from Gaizka Larrazabal and a first-half own goal from Tiago Silva.

Sunday’s stalemate meant two more points dropped for Casa Pia, but head coach Alvaro Pacheco is likely to draw positives from his team’s recent form, with the Lisbon outfit going unbeaten in six of their most recent eight league matches, claiming two wins and four draws, having failed to win the eight games preceding this run.

This turn in fortunes has seen Pacheco’s men climb out of the dreaded bottom three, as they currently sit 15th in the Primeira Liga standings with 19 points from 21 matches, two points above 16th-placed Santa Clara in the relegation playoff spot.

Over in the north-west coast, Arouca put on a fine show of fighting spirit last Saturday when they scored three unanswered goals to climb out of a two-goal first-half deficit and snatch a thrilling 3-2 victory over Vitoria de Guimaraes on home turf.

Noah Saviolo and Oumar Camara hit the target inside the opening half hour to put Guimaraes in the driver’s seat at the Estadio Municipal de Arouca, but Alfonso Trezza, Ivan Barbero and Hyun-ju Lee hit back for the home side to turn the game on its head.

Having struggled for consistency for most of the season, and with their sights on a top-half finish, last weekend’s display was another huge step in the right direction for Arouca, who have won three of their most recent four games, having managed just one victory in the 10 matches preceding this run.

Central to their recent turnaround has been the solid job done at the attacking end of the pitch, where Vasco Seabra’s men have netted 11 goals in their last six Primeira Liga games, having managed 11 in the previous 15 matches this season.

The Arouquenses have now won six of their 21 league contests, while losing 10 and claiming five draws to collect 23 points and sit 12th in the standings, level on points with 11th-placed Estrela Amadora and six points above the dotted line.

While Arouca will be aiming to make it three wins on the trot and move above 10th-placed Alverca, next up is the stern challenge of taking on an opposing side whom they have failed to get the better of in their last five attempts, losing four and claiming one draw since a 2-0 victory in February 2023.

Casa Pia Primeira Liga form:

Arouca Primeira Liga form:

Team News

Casa Pia remain without the services of Cameroonian defender Duplexe Tchamba, who has been ruled out since December through injury, while Kiki Silva continues his long road to full recovery from a knee problem.

Sebastian Perez has missed the last three matches and is a major doubt for this weekend’s matchup, while veteran defender Jose Fonte has been ruled out since coming off injured against Sporting Lisbon in January.

As for Arouca, head coach Seabra will be unable to call upon the services of Spanish midfielder Mateo Flores, who is set to sit out his third straight game through a muscle problem.

He is joined on the Arouquenses’ injury table by fellow midfielder Pedro Santos, who has missed each of the last four games since picking up an injury against Tondela on January 3.

With his strike against Vitoria de Guimaraes last time out, Trezza has reached double-digit goal involvements for Arouca this season, and the Uruguayan midfielder - who has seven goals to his name - will be one to keep an eye on.

Casa Pia possible starting lineup:

Sequeira; Geraldes, Goulart, Gabriel; Larrazabal, Ofori, Brito, Conte; Livolant, Cassiano, Morais

Arouca possible starting lineup:

Arruabarrena; Esgaio, Kuipers, Sanchez, Fontan; Van Ee, Fukui, Lee; Trezza, Djouahra, Barbero

We say: Casa Pia 2-2 Arouca

Both Casa Pia and Arouca are in an upward trajectory form-wise and will both be looking to maintain their fine run of results as the season’s run-in approaches.

C men boast a solid home record against the Arouquenses, but we predict both sides will do just enough to cancel each other’s efforts at the Estadio Municipal de Rio Maior.

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