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

Two sides who could do well with a win square off in round 27 of the Portuguese Primeira Liga as Moreirense play host to Arouca at the Parque de Jogos Comendador Joaquim de Almeida Freitas on Saturday.

While Os verdes e brancos are without a home win since scraping a 1-0 victory over Santa Clara on January 24, the visitors have lost each of their three games on the road since the start of February and will be looking to end this dry spell.

Match preview

Moreirense's faint hopes of securing European qualification suffered a fresh blow last Sunday as they fell to a 3-0 defeat against title-chasers Porto when the two sides squared off at the Estadio do Dragao.

Gabri Veiga, Oskar Pietuszewski and William Gomes all hit the back of the net in a dominant team display in front of the home supporters, as Porto secured a fourth straight win over the visitors and moved seven points clear at the top of the table.

Moreirense have now failed to taste victory in four matches on the spin, losing twice and claiming two draws, and have managed just one win from their last seven games in what has been a challenging run of results in the business end of the season.

Having picked up nine wins and three draws from the first 19 games, this drop-off in form has seen Vasco Costa’s men plunge into eighth place in the Primeira Liga standings, 11 points adrift of fourth-placed Braga in the Conference League qualifying spot.

With just eight games to go, Moreirense know they must turn their fortunes around sooner rather than later and will draw inspiration from a strong home record against Arouca, having picked up three wins from their three league meetings at the D since a 4–1 defeat in December 2016.

Arouca, on the other hand, were left red-faced in last weekend’s heated contest against Benfica as they suffered to a 2-1 defeat when the two sides squared off at the Estadio Municipal de Arouca.

In a game where Alfonso Trezza and Amar Dedic saw red, Ivan Barbero opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the seventh minute to put the home side in front, but Richard Rois pulled one back in the 50th minute before Franjo Ivanovic completed the Benfica comeback in the sixth minute of stoppage time.

With that result, Arouca have now lost each of their last three games, conceding six goals and scoring twice, and have lost all but one of their most recent five matches — with a 3-0 victory over 10-man Nacional on February 21 being the exception.

In fairness, the Arouquenses have blown both and cold this season and now find themselves flirting with the prospects of relegation, with Vasco Seabra’s men now in 12th place in the Primeira Liga table with 26 points from 26 games, just four points above the relegation playoff spot.

While Arouca will be looking to stop the rot this weekend, results on their travels offer little optimism, as they have lost each of their last three away games and have failed to win nine of their 11 outings on the road since late October.

Moreirense Primeira Liga form:

Arouca Primeira Liga form:

Team News

Moreirense will take to the pitch without several players down the spine of the team as the defender Alvaro Martinez, midfielder Vasco Sousa and forward Cedric Teguia continue their spells on the sidelines.

They are joined on Os verdes e brancos’ injury table by the Brazilian trio of Landerson, defender Michel and 23-year-old Yan Maranhao, who will also play no part in this weekend’s matchup.

As for Arouca, Seabra will be unable to call upon the services of Uruguayan striker Trezza, who is currently suspended after receiving his marching orders against Benfica last time out.

Barbero will also sit out Saturday’s tie due to suspension, after crossing the yellow card threshold with his booking against Benfica last weekend, while Pedro Santos continues his spell on the sidelines.

Spanish midfielder Mateo Flores has missed each of the last seven matches since coming off injured against Sporting Lisbon in January and the 21-year-old is also out of contention for the Arouquenses.

Moreirense possible starting lineup:

Ferreira; Travassos, Batista, Maracas; Kiko, Stjepanovic, Alanzinho, Alonso; Bondoso, Semedo, Araujo

Arouca possible starting lineup:

De Arruabarrena; Monteiro, Sanchez, Fontan, Kuipers; Fukui, Van Ee; Garcia, Lee, Djouahra; Nandin

We say: Moreirense 2-1 Arouca

Moreirense and Arouca head into this weekend’s tie looking to secure a morale-boosting result, having both failed to taste victory in their last four matches respectively.

With more dropped points here potentially damaging in Moreirense's already-slim chances of a top-six finish, we are backing them to go all out in front of the home supporters and come away with the desired result.

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