Benfica will welcome rivals Porto to the Estadio da Luz on Friday for an important contest at the top end of the Primeira Liga table in the latest edition of O Classico.
The visitors find themselves second after six league outings heading into Friday's meeting, only trailing leaders Sporting Lisbon on goal difference, while their hosts are just a single point worse off themselves and will bid to go top on home turf.
Match preview
© Reuters
After winning their 38th Primeira Liga title last season, Benfica set out to retain their top-flight crown under the management of Roger Schmidt this time around, although they did have to endure an unexpected losing start to their defence, suffering a 3-2 defeat away at Boavista despite leading until the 90th minute, after triumphing over O Classico rivals Porto in the Supertaca Candido de Oliveira in early August.
As Aguias have bounced back in impression since that opening-day slip, though, quickly establishing themselves in the leading pack once again with wins of each of their last five league outings, firstly beating Estrela Amadora and Gil Vicente before heading into the recent international break on the back of a 4-0 thrashing of Vitoria de Guimaraes as Angel Di Maria, Orkun Kokcu and Fredrik Aursnes all found the net alongside a Jorge Fernandes own goal.
Returning to action in mid-September with nine points on the board from four outings, the Lisbon giants picked up where they left off with a hard-fought 2-1 victory away at Vizela, thanks to goals from Petar Musa and Di Maria, before raising the curtain on their Champions League campaign and hosting Red Bull Salzburg in the opening group game, eventually coming away empty-handed in a disappointing 2-0 defeat thanks to goals from Roko Simic and Oscar Gloukh, having played with 10 men for the majority of the contest following Antonio Silva's 13th-minute red card.
In their bid to bounce back from the continental defeat and further strengthen their position at the top end of the Primeira Liga, Benfica most recently travelled to take on Portimonense on Sunday, and they succeeded in making it five consecutive three-point hauls on the domestic front, eventually scoring a 3-1 victory as Alexander Bah and Musa had them 2-0 up in the first half before David Neres restored their two-goal cushion in the 66th minute.
Now having started to build momentum in their latest league title pursuit, Schmidt's men head into their toughest test of the season thus far with their sights set on rivals Sporting Lisbon and Porto, both of whom sit a point ahead, with the chance to go top with a victory in O Classico on Saturday, at least until the former are in action on Saturday.
© Reuters
Their visitors, meanwhile, will look to continue their unbeaten start to the new league campaign and move further clear of As Aguias, in their bid to regain the Primeira Liga trophy with what would be a 31st top-flight triumph, after surrendering it to Friday's opponents last season.
Following the disappointment of the Supertaca defeat to Benfica, Porto have kicked off their league campaign in style, putting themselves joint-top of the division after six outings with 16 points on the board, having started with consecutive 2-1 victories over Moreirense, Farense and Rio Ave.
Sergio Conceicao's side were unable to carry a perfect record into the international break, though, as they then had to settle for a 1-1 draw at home to Arouca, thanks to Evanilson's equaliser in the 19th minute of injury time, before marking their return to action with a fourth league win of the campaign, as Mehdi Taremi netted the only goal of the game in their trip to Estrela Amadora in mid-September.
Os Dragoes then also raised the curtain on their Champions League group-stage campaign, albeit in more pleasing fashion than Friday's hosts as they scored a 3-1 victory away at Shakhtar Donetsk thanks to Galeno's brace and a Taremi goal, before making it back-to-back Primeira Liga triumphs again on Saturday, beating Gil Vicente 2-1 at the Estadio do Dragao courtesy of Stephen Eustaquio's 91st-minute winner, after Ivan Jaime's early opener was cancelled out.
While each of their three-point hauls in Portugal's top flight so far this season have been by a single-goal margin, Porto can certainly still be pleased with their points tally and unbeaten record at this early stage of their title pursuit, and they will now look to make it six wins from seven league outings at the Estadio da Luz on Friday to go four points clear of their O Classico rivals and three ahead of Sporting Lisbon.
Team News
© Reuters
Benfica were without key winger Angel Di Maria for their recent trip to Portimonense, and while we are yet to see whether he will be deemed fit for O Classico, the quick turnaround could instead mean Schmidt deploys an unchanged starting XI from Sunday's win, with David Neres again deputising on the right wing in a 4-2-3-1 shape in the Argentinian's absence.
Striker Petar Musa, who has managed four goals in six domestic appearances so far this term, including their second against Portimonense, is also a slight doubt after being withdrawn as a precaution at half time in that contest, although he is more likely to shake off his knock and lead the line again on Friday with support from Neres, Joao Mario and Rafa Silva, who has contributed three goals and four assists in their six Primeira Liga games this campaign.
Behind them, Joao Neves may return from the outset to join Orkun Kokcu in the engine room, while Morato and Nicolas Otamendi will again partner up at the heart of the back four in front of goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin, who arrived over the summer to replace Odysseas Vlachodimos.
Porto will remain without defenders Zaidu Sanusi and Ivan Marcano, while veteran centre-back Pepe also missed their contest against Gil Vicente, and it is yet to be seen whether he will return in time to feature on Friday, with Fabio Cardoso and David Carmo again set to partner up at the back if he is unable to make the starting XI.
In front of them, Alan Varela should continue to join Stephen Eustaquio in midfield in their 4-2-3-1 setup, while Ivan Jaime will likely operate in the more advanced role, after scoring his first goal for Os Dragoes at the weekend to seal all three points against Gil Vicente.
There is competition to join him in the final attacking places, with Galeno, Andre Franco, Fran Navarro, Francisco Conceicao, Goncalo Borges, Toni Martinez and Pepe all vying to start, while Mehdi Taremi is bound to lead the line, having netted two goals so far this term after hitting 58 goals and providing 36 assists across the last three Primeira Liga seasons for Porto.
Benfica possible starting lineup:
Trubin; Bah, Otamendi, Morato, Aursnes; Neves, Kokcu; Neres, Silva, Mario; Musa
Porto possible starting lineup:
Costa; Mario, Cardoso, Carmo, Wendell; Varela, Eustaquio; Pepe, Jaime, Galeno; Taremi
We say: Benfica 2-1 Porto
We certainly expect a tight encounter at the Estadio da Luz on Friday, with little to split the two teams who both boast plenty of quality all over the pitch.
Although the visitors are a point better off at this stage, they are yet to put a statement victory on the board, while their hosts head in with more momentum on the back of five consecutive league wins, and we fancy As Aguias to go top on home turf.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Sam Varley
