Seeking to pick up an eighth consecutive Primeira Liga victory, Benfica go head to head with Vitoria de Guimaraes at the Estadio da Luz on Saturday.
The objective for Os Vimaranenses will be to snap their run of 20 consecutive games without a win against the home side and pick up their first victory in five away matches since late October.
Match preview
Benfica continue to chase down rivals Sporting Lisbon at the top of the Primeira Liga standings as they picked up a 2-0 victory over Arouca when the two sides met last Sunday.
In an action-packed contest at the Estadio Municipal de Arouca, Spanish defender Jose Fontan netted a 12th-minute own goal to set the visitors on their way before Angel Di Maria converted his 71st-minute penalty to make sure of the result.
Since a 1-0 loss against Bayern Munich in the Champions League on November 6, Benfica have won four straight matches across all competitions, including a 7-0 hammering of Estrela Amadora in the Taca de Portugal fourth round on November 23.
With Sunday's result, As Aguias have now won seven back-to-back Primeira Liga matches and are unbeaten in their last nine in the league, picking up nine wins and one draw since a 2-0 defeat against Famalicao in the season opener on August 11.
With 28 points from 11 matches, Bruno Lage's side are currently third in the Primeira Liga standings, two points behind second-placed Porto and five adrift of league leaders Sporting Lisbon.
Vitoria de Guimaraes, on the other hand, turned in a fine show of class at the attacking end of the pitch last weekend when they thumped Gil Vicente 4-0 at the Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques.
In a one-sided contest, Jesus Ramirez, Manuel Silva and Nelson Oliveira all found the back of the net for the hosts, with Sandro Cruz netting a second-half own goal to sum up Gil Vicente's outing.
Before that, Vitoria de Guimaraes fought back from behind to snatch a late 1-1 draw against Kazakhstan outfit Astana in the Conference League, where they are one of just six unbeaten sides and sit fifth in the standings.
Rui Borges's men have now won exactly half of their 12 Primeira Liga matches so far while losing three and claiming three draws to collect 21 points and sit sixth in the table, but could move into fourth place with all three points this weekend.
However, Guimaraes will need to see off the challenge of an opposing side whom they have failed to get the better of in any of their last 20 meetings, losing 15 and claiming five draws since November 2008.
Team News
Benfica will have to cope without the services of midfielder Orkun Kokcu, who is currently suspended after crossing the yellow card threshold with his booking against Arouca.
On the injury front, As Aguias remain without the services of Portuguese forward Renato Sanches, who has missed each of the last three games through a muscle problem.
He is joined on the club's injury table by 23-year-old forward Tiago Gouveia, who has been sidelined since coming off with a shoulder injury in the 1-0 victory over Estrela Amadora back in August.
As for Guimaraes, Toni Borevkovic was forced off injured late in the game against Gil Vicente last time out and the Croatian defender is a doubt for this weekend's matchup.
Should he fail to shake off the injury, former Porto man Jorge Fernandes should come into the fold, forming the back four with Bruno Gaspar, Oscar Rivas and Joao Mendes.
Benfica possible starting lineup:
Trubin; Araujo, Bah, Otamendi, Carreras; Aursnes, Luis; Di Maria, Rollheiser, Akturkoglu; Pavlidis
Vitoria de Guimaraes possible starting lineup:
Varela; Gaspar, Rivas, Fernandes, Mendes; J Silva, Handel; Cesar, Samu, Santos; Ramirez
We say: Benfica 3-1 Vitoria de Guimaraes
Benfica are currently firing on all cylinders and will be backing themselves against a Guimaraes side who have failed to win any of the last 20 encounters between the two teams in over 16 years.
While Borges's men will look to continue from where they left off against Gil Vicente last time out, they are without a win in their most recent four away matches and we see them struggling at the Estadio da Luz once again.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
body check tags ::
Previews by email
