Fresh from meeting each other in the Taca de Portugal, FC Porto and SL Benfica go head-to-head again on Thursday – this time in the Primeira Liga.
Last Thursday, Porto claimed a 3-0 victory over Benfica to advance to the quarter-finals of the cup. Exactly a week later, the Eagles will aim to gain their revenge over the Dragons.
Porto currently sit top of the Primeira Liga table, level with second-place Sporting CP on 41 points. Benfica find themselves third, four points behind the frontrunners.
Remarkably, Porto have yet to lose a single league game this season – picking up 13 wins and two draws from their first 15 outings.
After drawing two of their opening five matches, they have since strung together ten consecutive league wins.
It is also worth noting that Porto have kept a clean sheet in each of their previous three Primeira Liga games, taking their total number of shutouts to seven this term.
Having conceded just eight goals in 15 matches, Porto boast the second-best defensive record in Portugal’s top tier.
If it weren’t for the incredible efforts of Sporting, Porto would almost certainly find themselves out on their own at the Primeira Liga summit.
As for Benfica, they have only lost two of their 15 league games this season – recording 12 wins and one draw along the way.
They head into Thursday’s clash on a two-game winning streak in the league and have won four of their previous five Primeira Liga outings.
Having netted 46 goals in 15 games (3.1 goals per game), the Eagles are the Primeira Liga’s top scorers by a considerable margin.
They have scored over 4.5 goals on no fewer than four occasions this season and have scored over 2.5 goals in almost 50% of their league matches.
Head-to-head: As we know, Porto claimed a 3-0 Taca de Portugal victory over Benfica exactly a week ago.
In the Primeira Liga, Benfica have only managed to win two of their previous 13 meetings with Porto. Both of those victories came during the 2018/19 season.
Team news: Porto will be without injured centre-back Ivan Marcano on Thursday as he continues to recover from foot surgery.
Benfica currently have three players sidelined through injury – Rodrigo Pinho, Lucas Verissimo and Nemanja Radonjic.
Although both teams are enjoying impressive seasons, there is no denying that Porto have the upper hand over Benfica at the moment.
Forebet predicts that Porto and Benfica will produce over 4.5 goals between them on Thursday, with the home side coming out on top.