Braga vs Arouca Predictions

• Braga have won four of their last six home league games.
• Arouca have lost three of their last four away league contests.
• Fewer than four goals have been scored in eight of the last ten Braga home games and eight of the last ten Arouca away games.

Braga stars keyed up for Quarry curtain call

Arouca will aim to boost their survival chances by earning three points at Braga, but the hosts will be intent on winning their final home game of a generally successful season. No-one can complain about Braga’s fourth-placed finish as they are miles behind the ‘big three’ in terms of annual budget and their business plan revolves around selling a couple of established stars every year.

They will be inundated with bids for the likes of Ricardo Horta, David Carmo and Abel Ruiz this summer – so all or some of that trio could be playing in front of the Minho public for the last time this weekend. All the noises coming out of the club suggest Braga, who will recall first-choice keeper Matheus for this, will be in the mood to win.

Arouca got a vital victory over Portimonense last weekend to pull three points clear of the drop zone. Armando Evangelista’s side had too many ideas for their mid-table visitors and could have made it more comfortable had they taken their chances.

Good Arouca away days are rare indeed  

Arouquenses rarely perform like that on their travels though, having only recorded two away league wins all season, so we aren’t tempted to oppose Braga – who have won four and drawn two of their last six home games with Arouca.

Instead, we’ll risk a stake on Braga winning with fewer than four goals in the game. The Arsenalistas success this season has been built on a sturdy defence, which became particularly evident when Carmo returned to the team.

Braga have conceded fewer goals than Benfica across their last 12 games and no more than either Porto or Sporting Lisbon over that period. Hence the play here is for the hosts to win with fewer than four goals in the game and our correct score fancy of a 2-0 Braga win also seems to fit their home profile against bottom six teams.

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