On Friday night, Benfica kick-off their Primeira Liga campaign as the Eagles welcome Arouca to the Estadio da Luz, as the home side looks for a positive start to the new league campaign.
Roger Schmidt’s team have enjoyed a solid pre-season campaign, winning five pre-season friendly matches and also recording a 4-1 win over Midtjylland in the Champions League third qualifying round. The Eagles have been prolific too in recent matches, scoring at least three goals in their last five games.
💬 @Goncalo88Ramos: "Foi um grande jogo, o resultado fala por si" #SLBFCM #EuAmoOBenfica #UCL— SL Benfica (@SLBenfica) August 2, 2022
💬 @Goncalo88Ramos: "Foi um grande jogo, o resultado fala por si" #SLBFCM #EuAmoOBenfica #UCL
Benfica finished last season in slightly inconsistent league form, although they managed to win four of their last six games in the 2021/22 season. One major positive towards the end of the league campaign was their defensive record, as the Eagles kept clean sheets in four of their last five Primeira Liga.
The home side’s recent record at the Estadio da Luz in the Portuguese top-flight is not great. They have won just two of their last five league games on home soil.
The visitors narrowly avoided relegation last season. The visitors have had mixed fortunes in pre-season, losing against Sporting Braga before a win over Feirense and a 0-0 draw against Chaves in their last pre-season game.
Arouca finished last season’s Primeira Liga campaign with a poor run of form, as the visitors won just one of their previous six league matches, which left them perilously close to the relegation spots.
Arouca’s away form towards the end of last season was particularly poor, as they failed to win any of their final five away games in the league, suffering four defeats in the process.
Forebet predicts that Benfica will record a victory in a high-scoring encounter to kick off their campaign positively.