Preview: Rio Ave vs Arouca - prediction, team news, lineups

Rio Ave look to avoid suffering three straight defeats for the first time this season as they welcome Arouca to Estadio dos Arcos for matchday 20 of the Primeira Liga campaign.

Back-to-back defeats against Benfica and Nacional leave the Vila do Conde hosts 12th in the Portuguese top-flight table, three points clear of the visitors, who sit right above the relegation playoff spot with a two-point cushion.

Match preview

Rio Ave have battled with inconsistency throughout the league campaign, with the majority of their problems in the earlier part coming from an inability to turn draws into wins, but the Vilacondenses appear to have unlocked another level of difficulty.

Sotiris Silaidopoulos’s men, who lost just three of their opening 13 Primeira Liga games (W3, D7), have now suffered defeats in four of their last six outings (W1, L1), including a 4-0 thrashing at Nacional last weekend, a result which further continued a concerning pattern.

The Vila do Conde outfit’s recent struggles have come from them switching off totally at both ends, with all four of those latter losses coming when they draw a blank, while letting in two or more goals in three of those setbacks.

Rio Ave’s issues in defence are further underlined by 35 strikes conceded in the league this season, with only bottom-placed AVS (0) keeping fewer clean sheets than their two, though Silaidopoulos’s men have scored a total of 22 at the other end.

Playing on familiar ground brings little conviction, as the Vilacondenses have managed just two wins in 10 home games this campaign (D4, L4), with all four losses coming when they drew a blank, meaning getting a result on Saturday will hinge on how the hosts turn up in attack.

Meanwhile, a leaky defence also puts the visitors in danger of leaving Rio Ave empty-handed, having conceded a whopping 44 goals – the second worst in the division – with 23 of those coming on their travels.

However, Arouca showed resilience at the back in their last away outing, where they earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory at AVS, even if that is just Lobos’s second victory in nine league games on the road this season (D2, L5).

The following fixture against reigning champions Sporting Lisbon proved far tougher, and manager Vasco Seabra would have been more disappointed at how his team fell in a 2-1 defeat, conceding a Luis Suarez stoppage-time winner after Ivan Barbero had cancelled out his first-half opener.

Despite the setback, Arouca have picked up eight points in their last six matches (W2, D2, L2), which is just one fewer than they managed in their opening 13, suggesting a marginal improvement in terms of return.

While the visitors look to bounce back to winning ways on Saturday, they have an unfavourable head-to-head record to contend with, having failed to record victory in each of the last seven of this fixture in the league (D4, L3), including a 3-3 draw in the reverse, while their most recent visit to Rio Ave ended in a 1-0 defeat.

Rio Ave Primeira Liga form:

Arouca Primeira Liga form:

Team News

Rio Ave seem to have a fully fit squad, though first-choice goalkeeper Cezary Miszta and left-back Nikolaos Athanasiou missed the previous outing, making them doubtful for this encounter.

Winger Andre Luiz moved to Greek side Olympiacos Piraeus in midweek, so January signing Diogo Bezerra could earn his debut start for the Vila do Conde outfit.

Top scorer Clayton, with 10 goals in the Primeira Liga campaign, has not found the net in each of his last five games and will be looking to rediscover his scoring touch here.

As for Arouca, Matias Rocha will play no part in this encounter as he serves a suspension following his red card on the bench in last weekend’s defeat to Sporting.

Meanwhile, Dylan Nandin, Omar Fayed, Boris Popovic and Pedro Santos have missed the last two games, putting their availability for this clash in doubt, as is that of winter signing Bas Kuipers, who was absent last time out.

On the other hand, right-back Alex Pinto and goalkeeper Nico Mantl recently moved to second-tier club SC Farense and Austrian side Blau-Weiss Linz, respectively.

Rio Ave possible starting lineup:

Chamorro; Petrasso, Brabec, Abbey; Tome, Nikitscher, Aguilera, Vrousai; Bezerra, Clayton, Spikic

Arouca possible starting lineup:

Arruabarrena; Fontan, Sanchez, Monteiro, Esgaio; Van Ea, Lee; Djouahra, Fukui, Trezza; Barbero

We say: Rio Ave 2-2 Arouca

Rio Ave have recorded a league-high eight draws this season, while four of the last seven meetings with Arouca have ended in stalemates, so we could see a similar outcome here, with both sides struggling for consistency.

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