Benfica will look to continue their solid form in the Primeira Liga when they take on relegation candidates Vizela at Estadio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica on Sunday evening.
The hosts cannot afford to drop points here after seeing their lead atop the league standings erased last weekend, while the visitors are at the other end of the table and could end the weekend bottom of the pile with a loss in this one.
Match preview
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Benfica claimed a narrow 2-1 victory at this venue in midweek, giving them the upper hand in the first leg of their Europa League playoff tie against Toulouse and marking their fourth win in their last five matches in all competitions.
The only match they failed to win in that time came last weekend when they salvaged a late 2-2 draw against European hopefuls Vitoria de Guimaraes thanks to an Arthur Cabral goal in stoppage time.
That result saw their arch-nemesis Sporting Lisbon draw level with them on 52 points at the summit of the Primeira Liga, but the Lions are the ones with the advantage, having played one less game this season.
While the pressure is firmly on the Eagles now, they are the overwhelming favourites heading into this weekend's clash on their home patch, where they have won each of their last four games and are still unbeaten in the current campaign (W8 D2 L0).
Roger Schmidt's side also overcame this opponent 2-1 in the reverse fixture back in September last year, which extended their unbeaten record against Vizela to five matches, including four wins and a draw.
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Meanwhile, following two solid seasons in the Primeira Liga, Vizela's top-flight status is in serious jeopardy this term as they find themselves just two points above bottom club Chaves and five points from safety.
Their poor performances this season led to the dismissal of Pablo Villar in December after just 18 games in charge, with former El Salvador manager Ruben de la Barrera being brought in to steady the ship.
The new boss has endured a tricky start to his tenure as his side were knocked out of the Taca de Portugal by The Eagles less than two weeks ago, which was the fifth defeat in his first eight matches in charge.
However, they managed a vital 1-0 win over Gil Vicente to snap up that run last weekend, with Samuel Essende scoring what turned out to be the winner 12 minutes into the match and despite being reduced to 10 men after the hour mark, the side held on to earn just their third win of the season.
Still, the visitors face a huge step up in class of opposition here, and while pulling off an upset may be unlikely, De la Barrera will be looking for a positive performance from his side ahead of two potentially season-defining fixtures against Estoril and Portimonense in the next couple of weeks.
Team News
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Benfica will be without the services of midfield duo Florentino and Orkun Kokcu, both set to serve their one-match bans for an accumulation of yellow cards.
Juan Bernat, who is likely to miss the remainder of the season, is the only player listed as injured for this match, which will likely mean that Felipe Morato will continue at left-back in his absence.
Angel di Maria scored both goals from the spot against Toulouse in midweek and should keep his place in midfield alongside Joao Mario, Fredrik Aursnes and Joao Neves.
Midfielder Sava Petrov was the player sent off against Gil Vicente last week and will be forced into a watching brief this weekend, while Osama Rashid could return to the fray, having not featured since coming back from the Asian Cup.
Essende was hauled off before the hour mark last time out with what appeared to be a knock, although he has not been ruled out of contention for selection this week as yet.
Benfica possible starting lineup:
Trubin; Bah, A. Silva, Otamendi, Morato; Neves, Aursnes, Neres, Mario, Di Maria; R. Silva
Vizela possible starting lineup:
Ruberto; Silva, Goncalves, Anderson, Pereira; Samu, Costa, Nascimento, Quina; Essende, Mendez
We say: Benfica 2-0 Vizela
Benfica have been superb at Estadio da Luz this season and now face an opponent that are in the midst of the relegation scrap. The Eagles are unbeaten in their last five matches against Vizela and we fancy they will extend that record with a comfortable victory in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
