Arouca v Sporting CP: title hopefuls meet relegation battlers | OneFootball

Arouca host Sporting CP in Liga Portugal on Saturday, 24 January 2026 at the Estádio Municipal de Arouca, with the visitors chasing the title and the hosts seeking breathing room above the relegation zone.

Sporting CP swept Arouca 6-0 in August and recent meetings have included a 2-2 draw in February 2025. The venue and stakes differ here, but the pattern shows just how hard this fixture can be for the hosts.

Arouca have taken four points from their past two league games, drawing with Gil Vicente before winning 1-0 at AVS following defeat at Tondela. The Leões are unbeaten in three league outings, beating Casa Pia 3-0 after a 1-1 draw at Gil Vicente, and also edged past PSG 2-1 this week.

The Leões are without injured midfielder Nuno Santos.

The visitors' season profile is imposing: 50 league goals, only nine conceded, 10 clean sheets, 61% possession and 87.52% pass accuracy. Luis Suárez sits second in the scoring chart with 15 league goals, while Pedro Gonçalves has nine and Trincão leads their assists with seven. Arouca have conceded 42 goals and seven penalties. The Leões have converted three spot kicks with 100.0% success, so penalty box pressure could be decisive. For the hosts, Alfonso Trezza Hernandez (six league goals) and Nais Djouahra (five) offer the main threat.

A win would move Sporting to 48 points and strengthen their title push. Three points for Arouca would take them to 20 and could lift them further from the relegation places, potentially nudging them closer to mid table.