Fresh off the back of a Champions League defeat to Liverpool, Benfica welcome Belenenses to the Estadio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica in round 29 of the Primeira Liga.
O Belem, on the other hand, ended their five-game winless run last weekend and will look to build on that result as they begin a late charge from the relegation zone.
Match preview
© Reuters
Benfica suffered a huge blow in their hunt for European success as they fell to a 3-1 home defeat against English giants Liverpool in the first of their two-legged Champions League quarter-final tie on Tuesday.
In an action-packed contest in Lisbon, Ibrahima Konate and Sadio Mane netted in the opening 34 minutes to hand the Reds a two-goal advantage heading into half time and after Darwin Nunez pulled one back for the hosts in the 49th minute, former Porto forward Luis Diaz made sure of the win with an 87th-minute strike.
Nelson Verissimo's men now turn their attention to the Primeira Liga, where they saw their seven-game unbeaten run come to an end courtesy of a 3-2 loss at the hands of Braga on April 1.
Benfica have now won 19, drawn four and lost five of their 28 matches this season to collect 61 points and sit third in the Primeira Liga standings, nine points adrift of second-placed Sporting Lisbon and 15 off Porto at the top of the pile.
However, with just one defeat in their last eight league games on home turf, As Aguias will be backing themselves to pick up a morale-boosting result and return to winning ways ahead of their Champions League return leg with Liverpool next Wednesday.
© Reuters
Elsewhere, Belenenses' fans saw a glimmer of hope in the club's chances to beat the drop as they claimed an impressive 2-0 victory over Portimonense at the Estadio Nacional do Jamor last Saturday.
Brazilian forward Safira ended his five-match goal drought as he nearly converted his 11th-minute penalty to put O Belem ahead before substitute Pedro Nuno put the icing on the cake with a 94th-minute strike.
Prior to that, Franclim Carvalho's men were on a five-game winless run, losing twice and claiming three consecutive draws while conceding five goals and scoring one in that time.
Last weekend's victory saw Belenenses leapfrog Moreirense in the league table as they now sit bottom but one with 21 points from 28 games, five points off Arouca just outside the relegation zone.
While Belenenses will look to build on that result and keep the juggernaut rolling, next up is the daunting task of going up against an opposing side who have won each of the last six meetings between the sides since 2019.
- D
- W
- W
- D
- W
- L
- W
- D
- W
- W
- L
- L
- L
- L
- D
- D
- D
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Benfica will be without the services of Brazilian forward Rodrigo Pinho, who has been out of action since last September through a severe muscle problem.
He is joined on the As Aguias injury table by fellow countryman Lucas Verissimo, who picked up a knee injury in the game against Braga last November.
With the return leg against Liverpool coming up next Wednesday, Verissimo could leave out a few key players this weekend, with Roman Yaremchuk coming in for Nunez, who has scored five Champions League goals and 21 in the Primeira Liga.
Meanwhile, Belenenses will take to the pitch without 23-year-old midfielder Chico Teixeira, who has been sidelined since last September through a knee problem.
Following his side's solid display against Portimonense, Carvalho could name an unchanged starting XI, meaning we could see an attacking trio of Rafael Camacho, Safira and Yves Baraye.
At the opposite end of the pitch, Carraca, Thibang Phete, Danny and Diogo Calila should form the four-man defensive line shielding Luis Felipe between the sticks.
Benfica possible starting lineup:
Vlachodimos; Gilberto, Otamendi, Vertonghen, Grimaldo; Meite, Weigl, Bernardo; Silva, Ramos, Yaremchuk
Belenenses possible starting lineup:
Felipe; Carraca, Danny, Phete, Calila; Baraye, Sithole, Braima; Camacho, Safira, Baraye
We say: Benfica 3-0 Belenenses
Buoyed by their victory over Portimonense, Belenenses will head into Saturday with renewed confidence as they look to move out of the relegation zone. However, looking at past results between the sides, Benfica are clear favourites to come out victorious this weekend having won each of their last six encounters with O Belem. We predict the hosts will cruise to all three points and set the tone for their upcoming game against Liverpool.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Benfica win with a probability of 75.65%. A draw had a probability of 15.5% and a win for Belenenses had a probability of 8.81%.
The most likely scoreline for a Benfica win was 2-0 with a probability of 12.75%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (10.42%) and 3-0 (10.4%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (7.39%), while for a Belenenses win it was 0-1 (3.02%). The actual scoreline of 3-1 was predicted with a 7.4% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Benfica would win this match.
