Two sides who picked up contrasting results last time out square off in round nine of the Portuguese Primeira Liga as Benfica play host to Casa Pia at the Estadio da Luz on Saturday.
As Aguias head into the weekend fresh off the back of a disappointing Champions League loss to Real Sociedad, while the visitors booked their spot in the fourth round of the Taca de Portugal.
© Reuters
Benfica were left empty handed once again in the Champions League as they fell to a somewhat disappointing 1-0 home loss against Real Sociedad on Tuesday evening.
Following a goalless first half in Lisbon, Spanish midfielder Brais Mendez came up clutch for Sociedad as he scored the only goal of the game to hand them all three points and maintain their unbeaten start to the campaign.
Prior to that, As Aguias kicked off their Champions League journey with a 2-0 loss against Austrian powerhouse Salzburg on September 20, two weeks before falling to a 1-0 defeat against Inter Milan at San Siro.
Back home, Benfica have flown out of the blocks in their Primeira Liga title defence, winning seven consecutive matches since their 3-2 defeat against Boavista at the Estadio do Bessa in August’s league opener.
With 21 points from their opening eight games, Roger Schmidt‘s men are currently second in the Primeira Liga standings, just one point adrift of first-placed Sporting Lisbon. 
© Reuters
Casa Pia, on the other hand, returned to winning ways last Saturday when they edged out Campeonato de Portugal outfit Rabo Peixe 2-0 in the third round of the Taca de Portugal.
In a one-sided affair at the Campo Bom Jesus, Armenian forward Artur Serobyan opened the scoring midway through the first half to put the visitors in front before Roberto Pablo made sure of the result with a 54th-minute strike.
Casa Pia now turn their attention to the Primeira Liga, where they have failed to win each of their last three outings, playing out a goalless draw with Vitoria de Guimaraes on September 23 before suffering successive defeats against Gil Vicente and Estrela Amadora in their two subsequent games.
Filipe Martins‘s side have picked up two wins, three draws and lost three of their eight league matches so far to collect nine points and sit 10th in the standings, level on points with eighth-placed Gil Vicente.
While Casa Pia will be looking to pick up where they left off last Sunday and record successive wins for the first time since July, next up is the stern challenge of taking on a Benfica side who have won each of their previous three meetings since July 2021.
© Reuters
Benfica will take to the pitch without World Cup winner Angel Di Maria, who has missed the last three matches after coming off injured against Inter Milan on October 3.
Despite Tuesday’s defeat, we expect Schmidt to name a similar side this weekend, meaning that we could see a back four of David Jurasek, Nicolas Otamendi, Antonio Silva and Aka Bah, shielding Anatolii Trubin in goal.
Croatian forward Petar Musa should lead As Aguias up top, forming the attacking quartet with David Neres, Rafa Silva and 30-year-old Joao Mario, who is yet to find the back of the net in the league this season.
As for Casa Pia, they will be without the services of Portuguese forward Kiki Silva, who has been out of action since March through muscle injury.
He is joined on the club’s injury table by fellow countryman Rafael Brito, who continues to await his debut after picking up a muscle problem back in May.
Pablo has hit the ground running since his summer move from Brazilian outfit Remo and the 23-year-old, who has five goal involvements in nine matches this season, will be one to keep an eye on.
Benfica possible starting lineup:
Trubin; Jurasek, Otamendi, Silva, Bah; Neves, Aursnes; Neres, Silva, Mario; Musa
Casa Pia possible starting lineup:
Batista; Varela, Fernandes, Zolotic; Larrazabal, Pablo, Justo, Lelo; Serobyan, Cardoso, Dias
While Benfica have been underwhelming in Europe, they are currently firing on all cylinders domestically and will be looking to move to the top of the table this weekend. Schmidt’s side have enjoyed the better of this fixture, and given the gulf in quality and depth between the two sides, we are backing them to come away with a comfortable victory in front of their home supporters.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Subscribe to our newsletter
