Arouca will look to continue their impressive resurgence under head coach Vitor Severino when they take on Nacional at the Estadio Municipal de Arouca in round 10 of the Portuguese Primeira Liga on Sunday.

While the home side are closing in on a fourth win on the bounce for the first time since February 2024, Nacional snapped their run of seven consecutive defeats with a hard-fought victory over Braga last time out and will look to build on that result.

Match preview

Nine games into the 2026-27 Primeira Liga season, Arouca can take pride in what has been a solid league campaign, with a back-to-back league victory over Estrela Amadora and Alverca in their most recent two league outings highlighting their upward trajectory after a slight dip in momentum back in September.

Against Alverca last Saturday, the Arouquenses made the most of their numerical advantage after defender Steven Baseya received an early bath for a dangerous tackle in the ninth minute, with Taichi Fukui finishing off a well-worked team goal right on the stroke of half time to sink the hosts at the Complexo Desportivo FC Alverca.

Sandwiched between the two league victories, Arouca turned in a resilient team display to keep their Taca de Portugal race alive on October 18, when they secured a 4-3 victory over Belenenses, with Fally Mayulu netting the all-important goal 15 minutes into extra time at the Estadio do Restelo.

With three wins in his first three games at the helm of affairs, newly-appointed Severino has instantly made his mark in northern Portugal, restoring momentum as Arouca have their sights on European qualification for the first time since the 2023-24 campaign.

Coming off an eighth-placed finish last season, this weekend’s hosts have picked up five wins and two draws from their nine Primeira Liga matches so far to sit fifth in the league table, but a win could take them within one point of their-placed Sporting CP.

Key to Arouca’s promising start has been their solid display at home, where they have picked up the fourth-most points this season (9) with three wins and one defeat in four matches, while defensive solidity has seen them concede just seven goals so far — only Santa Clara (6) and league leaders Porto (4) have allowed fewer.

On the other hand, after weeks of mediocre results, Nacional finally stopped the rot last Sunday when they held on to see out a 1-0 victory over Braga at the Estadio da Madeira.

Despite seeing over 60% possession and dictating the preceding, Braga were guilty of a lack of cutting edge at the attacking end of the pitch, with Miguel Baeza’s 19th-minute strike proving decisive to hand the hosts three huge points under interim coach Bruno Abreu.

This was a much-needed result for Nacional coming off seven consecutive defeats across all competitions, a run which saw Alexandre Santos relieved of his role as head coach after crashing out of the Taca de Portugal in a 1-0 loss to Campeonato de Portugal side AD Sanjoanense on October 17.

The Madeira outfit have picked up two wins and one draw from what has been a difficult opening nine matches to collect seven points and sit 15th in the Primeira Liga standings, level on points with Rio Ave and Casa Pia in the relegation zone.

While Nacional will look to build on their result against Braga and surge from the doldrums, four consecutive defeats against Arouca and just one win from their previous 10 encounters offer little room for optimism ahead of the trip to the Estadio Municipal de Arouca this weekend.

Arouca Primeira Liga form:

Arouca form (all competitions):

Nacional Primeira Liga form:

Nacional form (all competitions):

Team News

Arouca will take to the pitch without Croatian midfielder Gabriel Rukavina, who is currently suspended after picking up a red card for improper conduct while on the bench against Alverca last weekend.

On the injury front, Miguel Puche has been sidelined since sustaining a knee problem against Estrela Amadora back in April, and the Spanish forward is out of contention for this weekend’s tie.

Nacional, meanwhile, remain without several players down the spine of the team, with Leo Santos (knee), Felipe Soares (muscle) and Ulisses (collarbone) all recuperating from injuries.

Having missed each of the last three matches since his 18-minute cameo against Famalicao in September, Brazilian defender Wesley Gasolina is a doubt for the visitors, alongside fellow countryman Liziero.

Arouca possible starting lineup:

De Arruabarrena; Esgaio, Sanchez, Fontan, Lebedenko; Van Ee, Santos; Trezza, Fukui, Djouahra; Barbero

Nacional possible starting lineup:

Marin; Kokolo, Ze Vitor, Goncalves, Jensen; Baeza, Labidi; Song, Djalo, Gavriel; Njoya

We say: Arouca 2-0 Nacional

Arouca have enjoyed a solid start to the campaign, establishing themselves as one of the teams to beat as they look to strengthen their position in the upper echelons of the standings. The Arouquenses are firing on all cylinders under Severino, and while we expect Nacional to put up a fight at the Estadio Municipal de Arouca, we predict the hosts' quality across the pitch will see them take all three points once again.

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