Preview: Chaves vs. Benfica - prediction, team news, lineups

As Aguias journey to the Estadio Municipal Eng. Manuel Branco Teixeira on a run of four consecutive away wins in the league and will look to move level with Sporting Lisbon at the top of the table.

Match preview

Chaves were left empty handed for the second consecutive game as they were hammered 5-0 by a rampant Vitoria de Guimaraes side at the Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques last Saturday

In a game where Ygor Nogueira received his marching orders, Joao Mendes, Tomas Handel, Jota Silva, Andre Silva and Manuel Silva all found the back of the net to hand the hosts their sixth league win of the season in style.

This followed a shock penalty-shootout defeat against third-tier outfit Canelas at the Estadio Clube Futebol Canelas 2010 on October 22 which saw their Taca de Portugal campaign come to an end in the third round.

After consecutive away losses, Chaves now return home, where they will be looking to pick up two back-to-back home wins for the first time this season, following a 4-2 victory over Gil Vicente on October 7.

With seven points from their opening nine matches, Joao Teixeira's side are currently 14th in the Primeira Liga standings, just one point and two places above the bottom three.

Benfica, on the other hand, got their Taca da Liga campaign underway on Tuesday when they picked up a 2-0 victory over Arouca at the Estadio Municipal de Arouca.

Angel Di Maria broke the deadlock with a brilliant free-kick in the 26th minute to put As Aguias in front before Arthur Cabral made sure of the result with a 74th-minute effort.

Prior to that, Benfica were on a two-match winless run, losing 1-0 against Real Sociedad in the Champions League on October 24, four days before playing out a 1-1 draw with Casa Pia in the league.

Roger Schmidt's men head into the weekend unbeaten in their last eight Primeira Liga matches, picking up seven wins and one draw since a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Boavista in August's league opener.

With 22 points from nine matches, Benfica are currently second in the league standings, level on points with third-placed Porto and three points adrift of league leaders Sporting Lisbon.

Chaves Primeira Liga form:

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W

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Chaves form (all competitions):

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W

W

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L

Benfica Primeira Liga form:

W

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D

Benfica form (all competitions):

L

W

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Team News

Chaves will take to the pitch without Brazilian full-back Nogueira, who will serve a one-game suspension after picking up a red card against Vitoria de Guimaraes last Saturday.

In his absence, 26-year-old Bruno Langa should return to the starting XI this weekend, forming the back three with Steven Vitoria and former Braga man Bruno Rodrigues.

With his opener against Arouca, Di Maria now has eight goal involvements in 11 matches across all competitions this season and the 35-year-old will be one to keep an eye on.

On the injury front, Schmidt will be unable to call upon Danish defender Alexander Bah, who has missed the last two matches after picking up a foot injury against Real Sociedad on October 24.

He is joined on As Aguias' injury table by Turkish midfielder Orkun Kokcu, who is also set to sit out his third consecutive game through a muscle problem.

Chaves possible starting lineup:

Souza; Rodrigues, Vitoria, Langa; Carraca, Guimaraes, Ribeiro, Cruz; Lameiras, Hernandez, Correia

Benfica possible starting lineup:

Trubin; Otamendi, Silva, Morato; Aursnes, Mario, Luis, Bernat; Silva, Di Maria, Cabral

We say: Chaves 0-2 Benfica

With their victory over Arouca, Benfica have now won six of their last seven away matches across all competitions and will be backing themselves against a Chaves side who have struggled for form this season. Schmidt's side have enjoyed the better of this fixture, and given the gulf in quality and experience between the two sides, we are backing them to come away with all three points.

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