Benfica will host FC Porto on Friday night in the Liga Portugal in a top-three matchup. The Eagles enter the match in third place, with 15 points from six matches.
FC Porto, who sit second in the league, will attempt to end Benfica’s five-match winning streak in the Liga Portugal. Porto are one point better off in the standings than Benfica. The Dragons go into the match on a two-match winning streak.
The Liga Portugal will likely go to one of three teams this season. Benfica and FC Porto are chasing first-place Sporting CP.
The Lisbon-based club are ahead of FC Porto in the standings thanks to goal difference.
FC Porto dominated their last six matches in all competitions against Benfica, with four wins and two losses. Red cards were common occurrences during those six fixtures.
Benfica and FC Porto combined for six red cards in the last six meetings. Four of the last six games between these clubs finished as wins to nil. Benfica won two of those games to nil, and FC Porto claimed two wins to nil.
The Eagles won their two previous home matches this season by a combined score of 6-0. Angel Di Maria leads the team in goals with four this term. Meanwhile, Rafa and Petra Musa combined for six goals, three apiece, in the opening six matches.
FC Porto won each of their opening three away matches. They outscored their three opponents 5-2 on the road.
Porto lead Liga Portugal in possession per match, with 59.7%. Benfica, on the other hand, lead the league in shots per game, with 18.5.
Benfica coach Roger Schmidt has no fresh injuries going into the match against Porto. Schmidt uses a 4-2-3-1 formation with Musa leading the line. Di Maria did not play last time out against Portimonense but is expected to return to the team this weekend.
Sergio Conceicao has several players on the injury list heading into the match. Forwards Evanilson, Danny Namaso, and Gabriel Veron are all nursing injuries. All three are expected to miss the match. Defender Ivan Marcano is out of action with an ACL injury.
FC Porto go into the game with a strong record against Benfica in head-to-head matches. The Dragons should keep their strong record going versus the Eagles and post a win on Friday night in Lisbon.
The match should be another close fixture between the clubs, with FC Porto winning 2-1 against Benfica.
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