Benfica hope to move on from their early-season turmoil when they host Santa Clara at Estadio da Luz in Saturday's Primeira Liga gameweek five match.
Dropping five points from 12 saw Roger Schmidt get the heave-ho and Bruno Lage return to the club, the latter keen to steady the ship and possibly challenge for the title he won in the 2018-19 season.
Match preview
© Imago
Benfica finished 10 points behind last season's champions Sporting Lisbon but kept faith in Schmidt this season, which proved to be short-lived.
After securing seven points from their opening four games, club president Rui Costa made the managerial change, with the club returning to Lage to get their season on track after a false start.
The Eagles thought they had recovered from a shock 2-0 opening-day loss to Famalicao after back-to-back home victories, only for a draw at Moreirense before the international break to dampen any emerging optimism.
Last season's runners-up needed a late Marcos Leonardo penalty in second-half stoppage time to prevent another away loss, and they return to the Stadium of Light searching for their third straight home success this term and 14th in the competition dating to last season.
Only two teams — Casa Pia and Farense — have avoided losing at the home of the 38-time champions since Porto's 2-1 triumph in April 2023, meaning the home side are resounding favourites for maximum points despite the managerial upheaval.
© Imago
Visiting Estadio da Luz are a Santa Clara side that have started the season in fine form and sit above the record Primeira Liga champions in the embryonic standings.
Vasco Matos' men have recovered from their gameweek two defeat at Porto to secure back-to-back wins over Casa Pia (2-0) and AVS (2-1) but face a different test at the home of the Eagles.
The newly promoted side's fine start has been predicated on their attacking verve, underscored by notching eight goals in four games — only Sporting Lisbon (16) have more — which has made up for the concession of goals in all but one game.
Despite their attacking prowess, the club from Ponta Delgada face a challenging task in ending Benfica's 13-game league winning streak in Lisbon.
Santa Clara's five-match losing run in this fixture doubly confirms their underdog status going into Saturday's match, and it remains to be seen if they snap their wretched run against the 38-time champions.
Team News
© Imago
Despite going off with a seeming injury in Schmidt's final game, Angel Di Maria is anticipated to shake off the issue that forced him off against Moreirense.
Benfica are not expected to have Jan-Niklas Beste, Tiago Gouveia, Fredrik Aursnes and Renato Sanches available due to injury for Lage's first game since succeeding the former head coach.
Santa Clara have spread the goals around, with Allison Safira, Gabriel Silva and Ricardinho all notching two goals apiece for the new boys, and they hope to add to their tallies against the Lisbon giants.
Having fashioned three big chances and set up two goals, Matheus Pereira will be an attacking weapon for the away side with his forays forward from left wing-back.
Benfica possible starting lineup:
Trubin; Bah, Silva, Otamendi, Fernandez; Florentino, Barreiro; Kokcu, Prestianni, Di Maria; Pavlidis
Santa Clara possible starting lineup:
Batista; Lima, Rocha, Venancio; Soares, Ferreira, Firmino, Pereira; Lopes, Safira, Silva
We say: Benfica 2-1 Santa Clara
While Santa Clara have already shown their goalscoring threat since returning to the big time, facing Benfica on the road is a different challenge despite the Eagles' managerial change. Thus, we are backing Lage for a marginal win on his return to the Stadium of Light.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
