French off the back of reaching the Taca da Liga semi-finals, Benfica return to action in the Primeira Liga when they visit the Estadio de Sao Luis to face SC Farense on Saturday.
Having failed to win the last six meetings between the two sides, the Leoes de Faro will head into the weekend seeking to get one over the visitors and pull clear of the bottom of the league standings.
Match preview
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Farense were sent back down to earth in the Primeira Liga last Sunday as they fell to a 2-0 defeat against Braga when the two teams squared off at the Estadio Braga Municipal.
Two summer signings were on target for Braga as Ismael Gharbi opened the scoring from close range in the 41st minute before Moroccan forward Amine El Ouazzani doubled the lead with a 70th-minute effort.
Prior to that, Farense picked up back-to-back wins for the first time this season, edging out Estoril Praia 1-0 in the Primeira Liga on October 6, two weeks before claiming a 4-2 victory over third-tier Sanjoanense in the third round of the Taca de Portugal.
Having secured a 10th-placed finish last season, Toze Marreco's men have picked up just one win from their nine Primeira Liga games this term while losing seven and claiming one draw to collect four points from a possible 27 and sit rock-bottom in the table.
While Farense will be looking to return to winning ways and pull clear of the bottom of the table this weekend, next up is the stern challenge of taking on an opposing side whom they have failed to get the better of in their previous six encounters, losing four and claiming two draws since October 2020.
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Benfica, on the other hand, booked their spot in the semi-finals of the Taca da Liga on Wednesday when they picked up a comfortable 3-0 victory over Santa Clara at the Estadio da Luz.
Following a relatively uneventful first half, veteran winger Angel Di Maria scored a stunner in the 71st minute to break the deadlock before striker Vangelis Pavlidis netted a brace to cap off a solid team display.
This followed a 5-0 victory over Rio Ave on October 27, when Kerem Akturkoglu scored a first-half half-trick to inspire As Aguias to all three points and hand Rio Ave their fifth Primeira Liga defeat of the season.
With Wednesday's result, Bruno Lage's sides have won all but one of their last nine matches across all competitions, with a 3-1 defeat against Feyenoord in the Champions League on October 23 being the exception.
Benfica have picked up 19 points from their eight matches to sit third in the Primeira Liga standings, eight points adrift of first-placed Sporting Lisbon, albeit with one game in hand.
After two consecutive home games, As Aguias now journey to the Estadio de Sao Luis on a run of just one win in their last five Primeira Liga away matches, losing twice and claiming two draws since the start of April.
Team News
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Farnese will take to the pitch without several players down the spine of the team as Marco Matias, Felipe Soares and Tomane have all been ruled out through injuries.
Portuguese midfielder Rafael Barbosa has missed the last three matches while 21-year-old Kaique Pereira has been out of action since picking up a forearm injury in July.
Benfica remain without the services of 23-year-old forward Tiago Gouveia, who has been sidelined since coming off with a shoulder injury against Estrela Amadora back in August.
Eighteen-year-old Gianluca Prestianni has missed the last five matches through an ankle injury and is also a major doubt for this weekend's clash while Leandro Barreiro is currently recuperating from a thigh problem.
Pavlidis was involved in all three goals against Santa Clara in midweek, scoring twice and setting up Di Maria, and the Greece international, who has two league goals to his name, should lead As Aguias' attack once again.
SC Farense possible starting lineup:
Velho; Pastor, Jorge, Africo, Poloni; Silva, Falcao, Neto; Menino, Millan, Bermejo
Benfica possible starting lineup:
Trubin; Bah, Araujo, Otamendi, Carreras; Aursnes, Kokcu; Di Maria, Akturkoglu, Beste; Pavlidis
We say: SC Farense 0-3 Benfica
Benfica had to dig deep to see off a resilient Santa Clara side in their midweek up outing and will head into Saturday's clash with sky-high confidence. Farense have scored just three league goals this season and find themselves rooted to the bottom of the table after a poor start to the campaign, and while they will be looking to find their feet this weekend, we fancy As Aguias to come away with a comfortable victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
