Benficavs.Arouca

The Eagles soared to the top of the standings with a commanding victory at Porto last weekend, moving two points clear of second-placed Sporting Lisbon, who stumbled in their matchday 28 fixture against Braga.

Match preview

Currently the most in-form side in the Portuguese top flight, Benfica come into this weekend's clash brimming with confidence after securing a ninth successive league win in emphatic style.

The Reds made a dream start in last Sunday's O Classico at Estadio do Dragao, where they dismantled their fierce rivals with a ruthless 4-1 triumph, having opened the scoring inside the first minute through Vangelis Pavlidis, who went on to complete a hat-trick before Samu Aghehowa pulled one back, only for Nicolas Otamendi to hammer the final nail in.

Bruno Lage's men had gone into that encounter level on points with the league leaders at the time, who were due to play the following day, and their emphatic result temporarily sent them top - a position they retained after Sporting failed to take maximum points in their clash with Braga.

The Eagles are flying towards a domestic clean sweep, having already secured the Taca da Liga title in January, while their 5-0 thrashing of third-tier Tirsense in the first leg of the Taca de Portugal semi-final leaves them on the brink of a place in the showpiece.

That demolition marked a sixth straight outing in Portuguese competition in which Benfica have come out on top while scoring at least three goals - a streak they will be eager to extend this weekend, particularly against an opponent they have beaten 12 times in a row, netting three or more in four of the last six meetings.

Bolstering that prospect is their formidable record at Estadio da Luz, where the Eagles have won 13 of their 14 top-flight matches, sitting atop the league's home standings and boasting the most prolific attack with 42 goals scored in front of their fans.

Apart from the hosts' free-scoring attack, Arouca face an even greater challenge as they have not scored in the last eight fixtures and must contend with the league's joint most stringent defence on home turf, with the Reds conceding just nine goals in front of their crowd.

Nonetheless, the Wolves have shown attacking promise of late, finding the net in 15 of their last 16 games, although that cutting edge has not been enough to spark a turnaround in their fortunes.

Vasco Seabra's side are winless in their last three outings, suffering back-to-back defeats, including a 2-1 home loss to Famalicao, while their solitary victory across the last eight came away to relegation-threatened AVS.

That inconsistent spell leaves Arouca in 12th place, with seven wins, eight draws and 13 defeats totalling 29 points - six clear of the relegation playoff spot - and they will hope to take something from this daunting trip in a bid to widen that buffer.

Benfica Primeira Liga form:

W

W

W

W

W

W

Benfica form (all competitions):

L

W

W

W

W

W

Arouca Primeira Liga form:

D

L

W

D

L

L

Team News

Lage made sweeping changes to his side for the clash against Tirsense and is expected to revert to his usual starting eleven here, with only Antonio Silva and Florentino Luiz likely to retain their places from the midweek lineup.

Pavlidis will lead the line full of confidence after his hat-trick against Porto — becoming the first Benfica player to achieve the feat at Estadio do Dragao — and the Greek striker will aim to pick up where he left off.

Alexander Bah and Manu Silva remain sidelined as they continue their rehabilitation from injury setbacks.

Arouca's injury woes are even more pressing, with Nino Galovic, David Simao, Pablo Gozalbez, Dylan Nandin and Tiago Esgaio all ruled out of contention for the trip.

Esgaio will be unavailable for the rest of the campaign, which should open the door for Alex Pinto to slot in at right-back.

Chico Lamba's dismissal against Famalicao leaves a void in central defence that Boris Popovic is expected to step into.

Tiago Henrique Araujo is ineligible to feature against his parent club, and his absence means Guven Yalcin is likely to spearhead the attack.

Benfica possible starting lineup:

Trubin; Carreras, Silva, Otamendi, Araujo; Kocku, Florentino; Akturkoglu, Aursnes, Di Maria; Pavlidis

Arouca possible starting lineup:

Mantl; Pinto, Popovic, Fontan, Weverson; Loum, Fukui; Trezza, Jason, Sylla; Yalcin

We say: Benfica 4-1 Arouca

Written by

Adeyeye Oluwapelumi

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