Friday evening features the clash between Arouca and Tondela in the Portuguese top flight at the Estádio Municipal de Arouca with both teams searching for a welcome three points.
Arouca have had to endure a six-match sequence without a win in the Primeira Liga which consists of three draws and three defeats and having managed to win just one of their nine games to date this term, the hosts will be desperate to gain a result here on Friday night.
Arouca’s sole highlight so far this season came in the shape of a 2-1 home win against Famalicao but although they’ve lost three matches in their subsequent six matches overall, the hosts have picked up points in draws with Maritimo, Vitoria Guimaraes and Pacos Ferreira.
Arouca have reason to be confident about their chances though ahead of this upcoming clash against Tondela on Friday night as the hosts have suffered just one defeat out of the last seven meetings against their visitors.
Tondela dropped down to 11th place in the Primeira Liga standings following a heavy 3-1 loss at home to Porto last weekend which became the visitor’s sixth defeat in eight matches overall in the domestic top flight.
Although Tondela have picked up victories against Famalicao and Belenenses in a 3-2 home win and 2-0 on the road respectively, the away side have also been handed six defeats which has resulted in Tondela slipping down the Portuguese top flight table.
Defeats to Vizela, Portimonense, Benfica, Estoril, Braga and Porto do not bode well for Tondela ahead of this upcoming trip to the Estádio Municipal de Arouca for Friday night’s tussle against Arouca and suggests this could be a tough assignment for the visitors.
In addition, Tondela have managed to pick up just the one win from their last seven outings on their travels which came in the form of the aforementioned 2-0 win at Belenenses but this period also includes losing four games on the trot as well.
The bigger picture shows that Tondela have picked up just three away wins from their previous 21 games on the road which also includes no fewer than 14 defeats; the visitors have also failed to score in six of these games whilst keeping just the one clean sheet in total.
Arouca look a decent chance for the points here.