Preview:Benfica vs Santa Clara - prediction, team news, lineups

Benfica will be looking to maintain their 100% record in the new Primeira Liga campaign when they play host to Santa Clara at the Estadio da Luz on Friday.

While Os Acoreanos are out to secure back-to-back victories, they must break a four-year hoodoo, having lost each of their most recent eight games against the hosts since January 2021.

Match preview

Benfica had to fight off a late second-half flurry from a determined Alverca side last time out when they held on to see out a 2-1 victory at the Estadio da Luz.

After Andreas Schjelderup and new signing Amar Dedic hit the target to put Benfica two goals up at half time, the newly-promoted side upped the ante after the break, with Davy Gui pulling one back in the 85th minute.

With that result, Benfica remain unbeaten after the first eight games across all competitions this season, picking up one draw and seven wins, including a 1-0 victory over rivals Sporting Lisbon in the Super Cup on July 31.

This impressive run to start the season has also seen Bruno Lage's side secure their spot in the Champions League for a fifth consecutive season as they edged out French outfit Nice in the third qualifying round before picking up a 1-0 victory over Turkish powerhouse Fenerbahce in the playoffs back in August.

Alongside Porto, Benfica head into the weekend as one of just two sides with a perfect record in the Primeira Liga this season, with victories coming against Estrela Amadora, Tondela and Alverca.

As for Santa Clara, head coach Vasco Matos will hope that his side can continue from where they dropped off just before the international break when they held on to see out Estoril Praia and secure their first win of the new Primeira Liga season.

Following a goalless first half at the Estadio Antonio Coimbra da Mota, 23-year-old forward Gabriel Silva opened his account for the season from the penalty spot in the 53rd minute to hand Santa Clara a deserved victory.

This was a much-needed result for Santa Clara, who had failed to win any of their previous six matches across all competitions (L3, D3), a run which saw them fail to secure a spot in the UEFA Conference League group stages in the final hurdle of the qualifiers as they fell to a 2-1 aggregate loss versus Shamrock Rovers in the playoff.

Following a solid 2024-25 campaign, where they secured a fifth-placed finish in the table, Os Acoreanos have had a topsy-turvy start to the new league season, with one win and two defeats from their four matches so far.

While Santa Clara will look to continue from where they left off against Estoril Praia and put together a run of form, next up is the daunting challenge of an opposing side who have won each of their last eight meetings, a run stretching back to a 1-1 draw in January 2021.

Benfica Primeira Liga form:

Benfica form (all competitions):

Santa Clara Primeira Liga form:

Santa Clara form (all competitions):

Team News

Benfica will be without several players down the spine of the team this weekend as Jorge Silva (ACL), Tiago Gouveia (shoulder) and Alexander Bah (ACL) all continue their spells on the sidelines.

Renato Sanches has been ruled out through a thigh problem and will also play no part in Friday’s clash while Leandro Barreiro and 23-year-old Dedic both miss out through suspension.

Bruma has been out of action since coming off against Fenerbahce in July and is also out of contention for the home side while 21-year-old Nuno Felix has been ruled out through a muscle problem.

Santa Clara will have to cope without the services of 28-year-old defender Pedro Pacheco, who continues his long road to full fitness, having recently recovered from a severe knee injury.

Other than that, Os Acoreanos journey to the Estadio da Luz with a clean bill of health and no suspension concerns, giving Matos the luxury of a relatively full house at his disposal.

Benfica possible starting lineup:

Soares; Silva, Araujo, Otamendi, Dahl; Rios, Barrenechea; Aursnes, Barreiro, Schjelderup; Pavlidis

Santa Clara possible starting lineup:

Batista; Pereira, Rocha, Lima; Victor, Firmino, Serginho, Calila; Silva, Wendell, Brenner

We say: Benfica 2-0 Santa Clara

Benfica have flown out of the blocks this season and will be looking to quickly strengthen their place in the upper echelons of the league standings. Santa Clara picked up a morale-boosting result just before the international break, but given the gulf in quality and depth between the two teams this weekend, we see them struggling at the Estadio da Luz, where they have lost each of their last five visits since April 2021.

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