Santa Clara (home)
- Santa Clara will be a tough game for Benfica on Monday, however.
- The Açorianos are unbeaten at home in 4 games across all competitions (W2, D2), although they could not make the most of that good home form in their most recent fixture, the Taca de Portugal, falling 3-2 after extra time to CD Mafra.
- Their form across the last 10 games in all competitions reads 6 wins, 3 draws and just 1 defeat, so they should not be pushed over easily by the visitors on Monday.
- Santa Clara are unbeaten in 4 home games in all competitions (W2, D2), scoring 1.75 goals per game and conceding only 0.50 goals.
Benfica (away)
- Marco Silva's side have recovered from their 3-1 away defeat to FC Porto with two successive wins, a 2-0 home win over Vitoria Guimaraes and a 4-1 home drubbing of Celtic in the Europa League.
- Their away form looks even better, despite defeat to Porto in their most recent away fixture, as the Águias have won 3 and lost just 1 of their 4 games on the road in all competitions, while scoring a total of 10 goals in that period.
- Benfica have won their last two games, scoring 6 and conceding 1.
Head-to-Head
- Santa Clara are winless in their last 2 home games against Benfica.
- Benfica have won their last two games, scoring 6 and conceding 1.
- While Benfica should get the result, there are some reasons to take Santa Clara seriously as they have established a tough home record across all competitions, where they have won twice and drawn twice.
Betting Insights
- The odds suggest SL Benfica are heavy favorites at 1.36, but Santa Clara are huge long shots at 9.2, so the bookies are keenly anticipating an away win.
- A Benfica win and under 2.5 goals looks an interesting alternative angle for this game, given the visitors' quality and the fact that the hosts are set up to suffocate opponents.
- Petit has moulded his team into a compact, pragmatic unit that will set up a low-to-mid block and hit Benfica on the counter-attack when they get the chance.
Prediction
- While Benfica should get the result, there are some reasons to take Santa Clara seriously as they have established a tough home record across all competitions, where they have won twice and drawn twice.
- A Benfica win and under 2.5 goals looks an interesting alternative angle for this game, given the visitors' quality and the fact that the hosts are set up to suffocate opponents.
- Benfica operate a possession-based 4-3-3 system with high pressing, vertical tempo and width from the full-backs, so we could see a classic squeeze-and-break matchup on the field on Monday.
