Preview: Benfica vs. Vitoria de Guimaraes - prediction, team news, lineups

Reigning Primeira Liga champions Benfica will have the chance to record three consecutive victories when they welcome Vitoria de Guimaraes to Estadio da Luz on Saturday.

The visitors, meanwhile, have made an impressive start to the campaign, winning all three matches, ensuring that they travel to Lisbon with a 100% record.

Match preview

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After ending a four-year wait for the Primeira Liga trophy, Benfica made a shaky start to their title defence, suffering a surprise 3-2 defeat to Boavista in the opening game of the season.

The champions quickly issued a response in their second league game, dispatching newly-promoted Estrela via a 2-0 scoreline to get their league campaign up and running.

Three more points followed last weekend, as goals from Angel Di Maria, Rafa Silva and Petar Musa guided Benfica to a narrow 3-2 away win over Gil Vicente.

Despite claiming three points, Schmidt would have been disappointed to see his side concede more than one goal in a match for the second time in the club's opening three league games.

While their defensive fragility may be cause for concern, Benfica will draw inspiration from their head-to-head record against Guimaraes, having avoided defeat in their last 22 league meetings (W19, D3).

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Guimaraes have coped with uncertainty surrounding the club's managerial position to claim maximum points from their opening three games.

A 1-0 win over Estrela was followed by Moreno's resignation, ensuring that Os Vimaranenses went into their home game against Gil Vicente without a permanent head coach.

That did not prove to be a problem for Guimaraes, who claimed a narrow 2-1 victory prior to Paulo Turra's appointment as manager.

The new boss continued the club's promising start, overseeing a 2-0 victory in his opening game against Vizela courtesy of goals from Andre Silva and Joao Mendes.

Alongside Porto and Sporting Lisbon, Guimaraes are one of three teams yet to drop a point in the top flight this season, suggesting that they may have the quality to trouble Benfica, as they look to claim a league win over Saturday's opponents for the first time since February 2012.

Team News

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David Jurasek remains sidelined for the hosts, as he continues to recover from an ankle problem which has kept him out of the last two games.

After coming off the bench to score late on against Gil Vicente, Musa could be rewarded with a place in the starting lineup.

Goncalo Guedes has rejoined Benfica on a season-long loan deal from Wolverhampton Wanderers, and he is expected to feature among the substitutes.

As for the visitors, they are still unable to call upon the services of summer signings Telmo Arcanjo and Ricardo Mangas.

Afonso Freitas is a doubt after being forced off in the first half of Sunday's win over Vizela, and he will be replaced by Nelson Luz if he is unable to feature against Benfica.

After receiving a red card four minutes into his debut, Nuno Santos will miss Saturday's encounter through suspension.

Benfica possible starting lineup:

Soares; Bah, Otamendi, A. Silva, Aursnes; Kokcu, Florentino; Di Maria, Rafa Silva, Mario; Musa

Vitoria de Guimaraes possible starting lineup:

Varela; Fernandes, Manu, Villanueva; Gaspar, T. Silva, Handel, Mendes, Luz; A. Silva, J. Silva

We say: Benfica 2-1 Vitoria de Guimaraes

Guimaraes will head into Saturday's encounter in a confident mood, but their head-to-head record suggests that their winning run will come to an end against Benfica, who should have enough quality to pick up maximum points.

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