Benfica welcome Braga to Estadio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica for a Taca de Portugal last-16 tie on Wednesday night.
The Eagles will be seeking revenge after they lost on penalties to Os Arsenalistas in the quarter-finals of last year's competition following a 1-1 draw in 120 minutes.
Match preview
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Benfica claimed their fifth successive victory and extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to 10 matches when they comfortably beat Arouca 3-0 away from home in the Primeira Liga last weekend.
Rafa Silva netted his 10th goal of the season to open the scoring on the stroke of half time, before Orkun Kokcu and Peter Musa got their names on the scoresheet after the interval to help the Eagles kick-start 2024 on a positive note.
Roger Schmidt's men, the reigning Primeira Liga champions, have not lost in the top flight since the opening weekend of the new campaign back in August, but they sit second in the table and just one point behind city rivals Sporting Lisbon at the summit, while fellow Portuguese giants Porto are five point further back in third.
Benfica now turn their attention to the Taca de Portugal, a competition that they have won a record 26 times in its 86-year history, but the Eagles last celebrated success in 2017 and have not reached the final since 2021 when they lost to Wednesday's opponents Braga.
The Lisbon-based outfit have indeed struggled to get the better of Braga in recent years, as they have only won four of their last 11 meetings in all competitions, although they managed to come out on top in their most recent clash with Os Arsenalistas, securing a narrow 1-0 away win in the Primeira Liga last month.
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After concluding 2023 with back-to-back 3-1 away victories over Nacional and Casa Pia, Braga were unable to begin the New Year with a win, as they were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw at home to Vitoria de Guimaraes last weekend.
Os Arsenalistas were seemingly on course to claim maximum points courtesy of a second-half strike from Vitor Carvalho, but Joao Mendes came off the substitutes' bench to net a dramatic 98th-minute equaliser and salvage a point for Vitoria.
Artur Jorge's side, who have scored a league-high 40 goals so far this season, remain fourth in the Primeira Liga table, but have slipped six points behind second-placed Benfica, who occupy the second and final Champions League qualification spot.
Before locking horns with third-placed Porto away from home on Sunday, Braga must shift their focus to the Taca de Portugal and will endeavour to go one better in this year's competition after suffering a 2-0 defeat to Porto in last season's final.
Os Arsenalistas, who have won the Taca de Portugal just three times in their history including two triumphs over the last nine seasons, travel to Lisbon having won five of their last six away matches in all competitions, but they have lost their previous two visits to Benfica by an aggregate score of 7-1.
Team News
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Benfica are still having to cope without quartet Juan Bernat (muscle), David Neres (knee), Casper Tengstedt and Alexander Bah (both thigh) due to injury, although the former two could be in a position to return before the end of this month.
Tomas Araujo will be pushing for a rare start in central defence, but Antonio Silva and Nicolas Otamendi are the most likely duo to link arms at the back, with Fredrik Aursnes and Morato operating as full-backs.
Florentino Luis is set to battle with Kokcu and Joao Neves for a start in centre-midfield, while January signing Marcos Leonardo – an €18m addition from Santos – is in contention to make his debut and will battle with Musa and Arthur Cabral for a start up front.
As for Braga, they have a clean bill of health at present, but Malian forward Simon Banza and DR Congo defender Sikou Niakate are both away on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations.
The absence of Niakite will likely see 40-year-old Jose Fonte continue to partner 20-year-old Serdar Saatci at centre-back, while Abel Ruiz, who has just two goals to his name in 26 appearances this term, is set to lead the line in the absence of Banza.
Andre Horta will be looking to force his way back into the starting lineup at the expense of Joao Moutinho, while Pizzi could return ahead of Rodrigo Zalazar to operate in the number 10 role.
Benfica possible starting lineup:
Trubin; Aursnes, A. Silva, Otamendi, Morato; Neves, Kokcu; Di Maria, R. Silva, Mario; Cabral
Braga possible starting lineup:
Matheus; Gomez, Fonte, Saatci, Borja; Carvalho, A. Horta; Lopes, Pizzi, R. Horta; Ruiz
We say: Benfica 2-1 Braga
There has been little to separate Benfica and Braga in recent meetings, and another tightly-contested contest is set to be played out on Wednesday between two teams who will have confidence in their own abilities to secure the result that they need to advance to the quarter-finals.
The absence of top scorer Banza is a blow for Braga, and they may find it difficult to outscore an in-form Benfica outfit who have found the net 14 times in their last five matches.
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