Liga Bwin: X-ray of the Santa Clara-Benfica match

It is in the Azores that Benfica will end the 1st half of the Liga Bwin, facing Santa Clara this Saturday, January 21, at 6 pm mainland time (5 pm local time), at Estádio de São Miguel, on matchday 17 of the competition.

The turn of the Championship puts on the horizon for Roger Schmidt's men a sequence of three away matches, in the Azores, against Santa Clara, against Paços de Ferreira (in a game for the matchday 20 of the Liga Bwin) and against Arouca, on matchday 18 of the Liga Bwin. The eagles lead the competition with 41 points, four more than the 2nd place, SC Braga.

With the draws registered in the last round, Benfica in the derby against Sporting, at Estádio da Luz (2-2), and Santa Clara in Algarve against Portimonense (0-0), the two clubs have different goals in the competition.

If the eagles lead the competition and seek the 38th National Champion title, the Azoreans, who debuted Jorge Simão as coach precisely in Portimão (replacing Mário Silva), fight to escape the relegation places, occupied by Paços de Ferreira and Marítimo.

Benfica and Santa Clara will face each other for the 16th time and the eagles have a widely positive record, with 12 triumphs (80%) against (7%) from Santa Clara. Overall, there were 32 goals scored by Benfica and 11 by Santa Clara.

If Benfica boast the best attack of the Liga Bwin with 40 goals (alongside FC Porto), Santa Clara has a relatively solid defense, considering the position it occupies in the competition, having conceded only 18 goals, the same as, for example, Sporting, and 11 goals scored, one of the worst attacks, surpassing only Marítimo (10 goals) and Paços de Ferreira (9 goals). Gonçalo Ramos, who scored twice in the derby, is the top scorer of the competition, precisely with 11 goals.

The differences between the two teams are supported by the collective numbers presented in the competition, looking at the data collected on the Wyscout platform, in ball possession (64.1% against 42.9%), in the number of attempts (279 contra 136), crosses (359 against 196) or in passes completed (9865 against 4885).

The Azoreans are the second team with more defensive duels played in the League (1200 against 1103 for the eagles), the third with more ball losses (1748 against 1560) and also the third most fouls (242 against 199).

Benfica remains as the team that allows the fewest shots (94) in the competition, while Santa Clara registered 212 shots conceded, an average of 11.97 per match compared to 5.37 for the Reds.

In the last official match, against Portimonense, coach Jorge Simão fielded Santa Clara in 3x4x3, with the following eleven: Gabriel Batista, Paulo Henrique, Boateng, Ítalo Assis, Sagna, Adriano Firmino, Kento Misao, MT, Gabriel Silva, Bruno Almeira and Matheus Babi.