Liga Betclic: SC Braga-Benfica X-ray

Coming off the back of a 1-3 win in Salzburg, where they obliterated qualification for the knockout phase of the Europa League, Benfica returns to the Liga Betclic and travels to Minho with the ambition of winning against SC Braga, in a game from matchday 14, scheduled to kick off at 8:30 pm on Sunday, December 17.

Roger Schmidt's side arrive at the Estádio Municipal de Braga with a 12-game unbeaten run, while the Braga side have the best winning streak in the Liga Betclic: four in a row.

The Reds have won seven of their last 10 league games against the Minho side, with 37 wins and 16 draws in 66 visits to the Arsenalistas.

The figures provided by the Wyscout platform illustrate the offensive prowess of both teams. Benfica makes more shots than SC Braga, with 234 shots compared to 221, but the Reds are outclassed in terms of effectiveness, with their opponents totaling 36 goals scored and 38.5% of shots on target compared to 24 and 35.9%, respectively, for the Eagles.

The Arsenalistas have Banza, the league's top scorer with 13 goals, while Di María is still the top scorer for the Reds, with five goals in the competition.

Leader among the 18 teams competing in the Liga Betclic in terms of crosses (288), the Glorioso also beat their next opponents in terms of corner effectiveness (40.6% against 38%). This is also true of the number of touches in the opponent's penalty area (410) and the success rate when dribbling (53.4%), where Roger Schmidt's team is also top of the league.

With half as many goals conceded (10 against 20 from Braga), Benfica have fewer shots (122) than SC Braga (139) and come into the game with a higher percentage of aerial duels won (45% against 44.4%).

Despite having the lowest number of fouls committed in the competition (143), the Eagles outperform all the competition in the league when it comes to intensity, with 6.9 duels, tackles and interceptions per minute of possession.

The possession statistics show the dominance of both teams, with Benfica in the lead (62.1% against 59%), but it's in the passing parameter that the national champions dominate across the board.

With 7469 attempts compared to SC Braga's 6620, the Reds lead the pack of teams competing in the Liga Betclic in terms of passing efficiency (86%), deep passes (43%), long passes (61.1%), passes into the final third (78.9%) and progressive passes (80.7%). Figures that point to the security of ball circulation as one of the weapons of Roger Schmidt's team to bring home the coveted three points.

For the Liga Betclic matchday 13 clash against Farense, Roger Schmidt put Trubin, Aursnes, António Silva, Otamendi, Morato, João Neves, Kökcü, Di María, João Mário, Rafa and Tengstedt into the starting eleven.

Meanwhile, Artur Jorge used a 4x2x3x1 formation of Matheus, Joe Mendes, Serdar, Paulo Oliveira, Cristian Borja, Vítor Carvalho, Zalazar, Álvaro Djaló, Pizzi, Ricardo Horta and Banza in the 1-3 win at Vizela.