Benfica and Vizela get round five of the Primeira Liga underway when they go head to head at the Estadio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica on Friday.
Roger Schmidt's men head into the weekend as the only side to have won their opening four league games so far and will be looking to march on in the same vein.
Match preview
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Benfica maintained their 100% record in the new Primeira Liga campaign on Wednesday when they came back from behind to claim a 3-2 victory over a resilient Pacos de Ferreira side on home turf.
After falling behind to N'Dri Philippe Koffi's 39th-minute opener, As Aguias upped the ante and hit back three straight goals through David Neres, Joao Mario and Goncalo Ramos before Koffi grabbed his second of the night in the 80th minute to cap off a fine individual display.
Schmidt's side have now won each of their last 14 games across all competitions — a run which extends to May 7 when they were beaten 1-0 by Porto and saw them secure Champions League football at the expense of Midtjylland and Dynamo Kiev.
With their Champions League Group H opener against Maccabi Haifa on the horizon, Benfica will head into the weekend aiming to maintain their string of sensational performances and extend their lead at the top of the league standings.
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On the other hand, manager Alvaro Pacheco will be satisfied with a point as his Vizela side fought back from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw against Gil Vicente at the Estadio do Vizela last Monday.
In an action-packed first half, Fran Navarro and Juan Manuel Boselli scored in the opening half hour to put the visitors in a comfortable position but Raphael Guzzo teed up Kiko Bondoso and Anderson in first-half injury time to force a share of the spoils.
This was a second consecutive draw for the Vizelenses, who have managed one win from their opening four games of the season, with their only defeat coming on August 14 when they lost 1-0 against league champions Porto.
While Vizela will look to return to winning ways and get their season back on track, their next task pits them against a rampant Benfica side who are unbeaten in each of the last four meetings between the teams since 2017, claiming three wins and one draw.
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Team News
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Off the back of a solid attacking display against Pacos de Ferreira, Schmidt could once again name an unchanged attacking quartet of Ramos, Mario, Neres and 29-year-old forward Rafa Silva.
Florentino Luis and Enzo Fernandes have started each of Benfica's four league games so far and the duo should retain their roles at the centre of the park, while we expect to see a centre-back pairing of Nicolas Otamendi and Felipe Morato for the third time this season.
Ukrainian forward Roman Yaremchuk recently completed a move to Club Brugge, while on the injury front, As Aguias will be without the Brazilian duo of Joao Victor and Lucas Verissimo, who have been sidelined through muscle and knee injuries respectively.
As far as Vizela are concerned, Pacheco will be unable to call upon the services of 20-year-old forward Friday Etim, who continues his road to recovery after suffering a muscle injury in May.
Portuguese midfielder Guzzo set up both goals against Gil Vicente last time out and the 27-year-old, who now has three assists to his name, should team up with Samu and Manchester City loanee Diego Rosa in midfield.
Benfica possible starting lineup:
Vlachodimos; Gilberto, Otamendi, Morato, Grimaldo; Fernandez, Luís; Goncalves, Silva, Mario; Ramos
Vizela possible starting lineup:
Buntic; Silva, Wilson, Anderson, Kiki; Samu, Guzzo, Rosa; Moreira, Zohi, Koffi
We say: Benfica 3-1 Vizela
Benfica head into the weekend as the most in-form side in the division, winning each of their last 14 games across all competitions while scoring a staggering 42 goals in that time. We are backing the 2018-19 league champions to make light work of Vizela and come away with a comfortable win in front of their home fans.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
