Boavista will look to put an end to an eight-game league winless run on Saturday, when they take on newly-promoted Arouca in the Portuguese top flight.
A dip in form has seen the visitors drop to 10th spot in the Primeira Liga table, while their visitors sit just one point worse off in 12th place.
Match preview
© Reuters
Boavista enjoyed a relatively strong start to the league season, sitting fifth in the table with eight points from their opening five games.
However, back-to-back draws that were part of a four-game unbeaten streak have since become the foundations for an eight-game winless run, with Joao Pedro Sousa's side having now failed to secure a victory in the league since the third round of fixtures.
After consecutive draws with Estoril Praia, Braga and Belenenses, As Panteras now head into Saturday following back-to-back heavy defeats in the top flight, firstly falling to a 4-1 loss at the hands of Porto.
Sousa's men met Famalicao last time out, and goals from Petar Musa and Yusupha Njie were not enough to salvage a result as they were eventually thrashed 5-2, triggering a drop to 10th.
With Saturday being their first game since the recent international break, Boavista will hope for a fresh start and a reversal of their fortunes with a win on Saturday.
They travel to an Arouca side who seem to have grown into the campaign after a slow start.
Following their promotion from the second tier last term, the visitors managed to earn just five points from their opening eight outings.
They have since doubled their tally in the last three games though, firstly arresting a slump with a valuable point from a goalless draw away at Pacos de Ferreira.
Armando Evangelista's side then posted their second league victory of the campaign, as Joao Basso and Andre Bukia got on the scoresheet in a 2-0 win over ninth-placed Tondela, before they managed to leave Gil Vicente with a 1-1 draw, taking their points tally to 10 from 11 games.
Having now gone three matches without a defeat, conceding just a single goal in the process, the Arouquenses will be hopeful of continuing their steady upturn in form with a win that would see them leapfrog Saturday's hosts.
- D
- L
- L
- D
- W
- D
- L
- L
- L
- D
- W
- D
- L
- D
- D
- D
- L
- L
- D
- D
- L
- D
- L
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Arouca will be without forward Andre Silva, who will serve a suspension after he was sent off in the draw with Gil Vicente.
Omri Altman could lead the line in his absence, while winger Arsenio will come in with renewed confidence after getting on the scoresheet in that game.
Their only other absentee should be defender Jose Manuel Velazquez, who continues to nurse an injury, while Eugeni Valderrama recently came back from a knock and Pite will return from a red card suspension.
Right-back Reggie Cannon and centre-back Rodrigo Abascal were both shown red cards for Boavista last time out, and the defensive duo will both be suspended on Saturday.
Their problems at the back do not stop there, as Abascal's partner Tiago Ilori went off earlier in the game, while fellow centre-backs Javi Garcia and Jackson Porozo continue spells on the sidelines, leaving Nathan Santos and Filipe Ferreira to potentially form a makeshift defensive pairing.
Forward Petar Musa should keep his spot after scoring last time out, while Yusupha Njie got on the scoresheet in his substitute appearance, and he will also be pushing to feature from the outset.
Arouca possible starting lineup:
Braga; Thales, Basso, Ba, Quaresma; L Silva, Eugeni, Kouassi; Bukia, Altman, Arsenio
Boavista possible starting lineup:
Beiranvand; Reymao, Santos, Ferreira, Hamache; Perez, Sauer; Morais, Njie, Gorre; Musa
We say: Arouca 3-1 Boavista
Given the contrasting form of the two sides, and the major hits to Boavista's defence, we heavily fancy the newly-promoted side to do the business on Saturday.
As Panteras will struggle to field two genuine centre-backs, and, considering they have already struggled at the back in recent weeks, we do not back them to get a result away from home.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Arouca win with a probability of 55.08%. A draw had a probability of 24.4% and a win for Boavista had a probability of 20.49%.
The most likely scoreline for an Arouca win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.79%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.59%) and 2-1 (9.58%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.57%), while for a Boavista win it was 0-1 (6.99%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 9.6% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Arouca would win this match.
