Fresh from their Taca da Liga disappointment Benfica host Gil Vicente at Estadio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica in an important Primeira Liga match on Wednesday night with kickoff at 22:00.
Benfica failed to claim the first silverware available in Portugal as they fell to a 2-1 defeat to city rivals Sporting Lisbon in the Taca da Liga final last Saturday. Brazilian forward Everton opened the scoring giving Benfica the advantage in the first half but Goncalo Inacio and Pablo Sarabia score in the second half to turn the game on its head as Sporting clinched their second piece of silverware this season.
Now back to Primeira Liga action Benfica will look to continue their strong form as they aim at keeping their title hopes alive. As things stand in the Primeira Liga As Aguias are third in the rankings with 44 points on board in their name, 12 points behind Porto who have played one match at the summit of the table and three behind second-placed Sporting Lisbon.
They head into the match in a good league form as they are unbeaten in their last three, claiming two wins and a draw and they have only lost one in their last six. The run has seen them reduce the gap between them and Sporting and they will be looking to keep the ball rolling.
Meanwhile Gil Vicente have been impressive this season with the side recording eight wins, six draws and five defeats from their 19 league matches and currently hold the last European place in the league rankings with 30 points on board.
Vicente head into the match in a good Primeira Liga form as they have only lost one of their last 10 league matches claiming six wins and three draws in the run and did well last time out to return to winning ways as they edged Portimonense at home on Sunday the 23rd.
The win saw them extend their unbeaten run in the division to four matches on the bounce, claiming three wins and a draw in the run and with three points keeping them above the sixth-placed Victoria de Guimaraes, Vicente will be looking to maintain their form as they aim at keeping their European place.
Benfica vs Gil Vicente head to head
Both sides have met in 24 encounters since 2002 with Benfica dominating the record as they have accumulated 19 victories while Vicente only have two victories and there have been three draws.
- Vicente 0-2 Benfica 21/08/21
- Benfica 1-2 Vicente 17/04/21
- Vicente 0-2 Benfica 20/12/20
- Vicente 0-1 Benfica 24/02/20
- Benfica 2-0 Vicente 14/09/19
Home
- Benfica 1-2 Sporting
- Benfica 3-2 Boavista
- Arouca 0-2 Benfica
- Benfica 1-1 Moreirense
- Benfica 2-0 Pacos Ferreira
Away
- Vicente 1-0 Portimonense
- Boavista 1-1 Vicente
- Vicente 3-2 Guimaraes
- Tondela 0-3 Vicente
- Vicente 0-3 Sporting
Benfica team news
Benfica will be without Rodrigo Pinho, Lucas Verssimo and Haris Seferovic due to injuries, while Nicolas Otamendi and Darwin Nunez are unavailable as they are currently on international duties and Rafa Silva is a doubt.
Vicente team news
Vicente will be without Murilo Souza who continues to nurse a ruptured Arhilles tendon while Joao Afonso is a doubt.
Prediction and odds
- Benfica win
- Draw
- Both sides to score
