Our prediction for this Portugal Primeira Liga match:
After failing to turn their dominance into victory in a goalless draw with Rio Ave, Porto will be aiming to move closer to the Champions League berth when they take on Arouca on Matchday 21. The Dragons are four points behind second-place Sporting and, no doubt, they are desperate to return to winning ways in the Portuguese top flight. As key attacker Mehdi Taremi returns from the international duty, away win should be considered. Zaidu, though, is still representing Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Daniel Sousa’s troops are eyeing their fourth consecutive league win, but they will have a much bigger fish to fry against Porto. There are no fresh injury worries in the home team, but boss Daniel Sousa will watch the game from the stands. In their last meeting at the venue Porto defeated Arouca 1-0, with Ivan Marcano scoring the only goal of the match.
Highlighted Player (Pepe):
Pepe is a professional footballer who plays for Porto as a defender. The Portuguese international played for Maritimo at the start of his senior career and in 2004 he moved to Porto. After making 64 league appearances for the Dragons, he signed a contract with Real Madrid in 2007 and he quickly established himself as a first-team regular.
Pepe is well known for his hard tackles and referees often show him red card. The Real Madrid centre back often played as a defensive midfielder under Jose Mourinho and it has to be noted that he scored five goals in all competitions in the 2013/2014 La Liga campaign.
The Portuguese footballer won his second Champions League trophy with Real Madrid in the 2015/2016 season and later in 2016 he helped A Selecao win the European Championship trophy. Portugal defeated France in the title game and Pepe played an important role in Fernando Santos’ team in the Euro 2016 final. The Real Madrid defender was born in Maceio, Brazil on 26 February, 1983.