Rio Ave have put together a fine run of form in recent weeks and will head into the weekend looking to break their Benfica hoodoo. On paper, Freire's side are no match for the spirited visitors, who boast a significantly superior and more experienced squad. Benfica are currently firing on all cylinders and we are backing them to extend their winning streak against the hosts on Sunday.
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Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Benfica win with a probability of 74.97%. A draw had a probability of 16.6% and a win for Rio Ave had a probability of 8.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Benfica win was 0-2 with a probability of 14.53%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (12.87%) and 0-3 (10.93%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (7.81%), while for a Rio Ave win it was 1-0 (3.46%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 12.9% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Benfica would win this match.
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