Following a lengthy break for the first-ever winter World Cup, Porto and Arouca return to action in the Primeira Liga when they square off at the Estadio do Dragao on Wednesday.
Both sides head into the midweek match fresh off the back of reaching the semi-finals of the Taca da Liga and will be looking to pick up right where they dropped off last time out.
Match preview
© Reuters
Porto continued their charge for a first-ever Taca da Liga title as they secured a comfortable 2-0 victory over 10-man Gil Vicente in their quarter-final clash on December 15.
Wenderson Galeno maintained his red-hot streak in front of goal as he found the target inside the opening three minutes before Mehdi Taremi doubled the advantage to send the 30-time Portuguese champions through to the last four.
This followed an unbeaten campaign in the group stages, where they played out a 2-2 draw with Mafra in the group opener on November 25 before claiming successive wins over Chaves and Vizela to clinch top spot in Group A.
Porto's cup run has been in keeping with their impressive performance in the Primeira Liga, where they have picked up nine wins and two draws from their 13 matches to collect 29 points and sit second in the standings.
The Dragoes' most recent league outings came on November 12 when they cruised to a 4-1 victory over Boavista at the Estadio do Bessa courtesy of goals from Ivan Marcano, Stephen Eustaquio and a brace from Galeno.
Sergio Conceicao's men head into Wednesday on a run of 10 consecutive games without defeat across all competitions, including each of their last three in the Primeira Liga, where they have picked up seven points from the last nine available.
© Reuters
Elsewhere, Arouca continued their fairytale run in the Taca da Liga as they completed an impressive second-half comeback to see off Moreirense 2-1 at the Parque de Jogos Comendador Joaquim de Almeida Freitas last Thursday.
The Arouquenses had to draw from the well to secure a first-ever appearance in the cup semi-finals as Tiago Esgaio and Rafa Mujica scored in a nine-minute spell to cancel out Andre Luis's first-half opener and send the hosts crashing out.
Like Porto, Wednesday's visitors also enjoyed an unbeaten group-stage run as they picked up two wins and two draws to collect eight points and finish top of Group G after edging out runners-up Feirense on goal difference.
Arouca now turn their attention to the Primeira Liga, where they suffered a 1-0 defeat against Rio Ave at the Estadio Municipal de Arouca in their final outing before the World Cup break on November 12.
Prior to the loss against Rio Ave, they were on a six-game unbeaten run in the league, picking up three wins and three draws while scoring 10 goals and keeping two clean sheets in that time.
With 19 points from 13 matches, Armando Evangelista's side are currently 10th in the Primeira Liga table, but could potentially rise as high as seventh place with all three points on Wednesday.
While Arouca will be looking to secure a fourth win on the trot for the first time since May 2021, they face the stern challenge of taking on a Porto side who are on a five-game winning streak in this fixture and have picked up 10 wins from their last 11 meetings since October 2013.
Team News
© Reuters
Porto will take to the pitch without the services of midfielder Eustaquio, who sustained a severe muscle injury while in action for Canada in their World Cup clash versus Croatia on November 27.
He is joined on the club's injury list by Nigerian full-back Zaidu Sanusi, who has been sidelined since picking up a muscle injury in November's Champions League clash versus Atletico Madrid.
With his strike in the cup quarter-finals, Galeno now has five goals in his last six matches and we expect the Brazilian midfielder to retain his role in the midfield four, alongside Otavio, Marko Grujic and Mateus Uribe.
Taremi, who boasts 11 goal involvements in 13 league matches, has also been a standout performer for Canceicao's side this season and the experienced striker should team up with strike partner Evanilson up top.
Arouca, on the other hand, will have to cope without 22-year-old striker Vitinho, who has been out of action since October through a severe injury.
Mujica has been on song for the Arouquenses in recent weeks and the Spanish striker, who has been involved in seven goals in his last seven matches across all competitions, should lead the visitors' attack once again.
Porto possible starting lineup:
Costa; Pepe, Cardoso, Marcano, Wendell; Otavio, Grujic, Uribe, Galeno; Evanilson, Taremi
Arouca possible starting lineup:
Arruabarrena; Esgaio, Basso, Opoku, Quaresma; Sylla, Soro, Simao; Bukia, Alves, Mujica
We say: Porto 3-1 Arouca
Off the back of a fine cup run to the semi-finals, Porto and Arouca will head into Wednesday looking to keep the juggernaut rolling and the momentum high. While the visitors have put together a fine run of form in recent weeks, they are in for a tough 90 minutes against a significantly superior and more experienced Porto side.
With that said, we are backing Conceicao's side to extend their dominance in this fixture by claiming another victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
