Liga Betclic: Benfica-Famalicão X-ray

Strengthened by consecutive wins against Salzburg (Champions League), SC Braga (Championship) and AVS (League Cup), Benfica hosts Famalição at 6:45 pm on Friday, December 29, on matchday 15 of the Liga Betclic.

Following their victory at the Estádio Municipal de Braga, the eagles, in the top half of the league, extended their unbeaten run in the league to 13 games, while their next opponents, in 7th place, arrive at the Cathedral on a run of four consecutive games without a win: three draws and one defeat.

The record between the two teams shows a strong dominance by Benfica, who has won nine and drawn one of the 10 league matches as hosts. It should be noted that, this season (2023/24), the teams have already met at the Estádio da Luz in the 4th round of the Portuguese Cup, with the Eagles winning 2-0.

The data provided by the Wyscout platform shows that the big difference between the two teams is in attacking productivity. The Reds go into this match with 25 goals to Famalicão's 13, who has 165 shots compared to Glorioso's 244. In terms of shots on target, the Eagles have a 36.9% success rate, while their next opponents have the worst record of the 18 teams in the league: 27.3%.

Scorer of the winning goal in Braga, Tengstedt equaled Musa with three goals in the Liga Betclic, and the two strikers are behind Rafa (four) and Di María (five) on Benfica's list of top scorers in the competition. On Famalicão's side, Jhonder Cádiz, with four goals, is the most prolific.

The figures also show that Famalicão makes a lot of fouls (the second-highest record in the competition, with 218 committed) to stop their opponents, while the Reds, who have the best defense in the Liga Betclic (10 goals conceded), are the team with the least fouls in the competition, with 152 infractions.

Used to bossing games, the team led by Roger Schmidt continues to have the highest percentage of possession (60.1%) in the league, while the Minhotos fail to reach 50%: 47.7%. Benfica also continues to dominate in terms of pass efficiency (86.2%), passes in depth (42.2%), long passes (60%) and passes into the final third (77.8%).

Aursnes, Rafa and Neres are the Benfica players with the most assists in the competition: four. With three passes for goals, Moura is the Famalicão player who stands out most in this parameter.

In the match for the 3rd round of Group B in the League Cup, which ended in a home win over AVS (4-1), Roger Schmidt started Trubin, Aursnes, Tomás Araújo, António Silva, Morato, João Neves, Kökcü, Di María, João Mário, Rafa and Tengstedt. It should be noted that, after picking up his 5th yellow card in the Liga Betclic in the win at Braga (0-1), Otamendi has to serve a game of suspension and is a confirmed absentee for the match this Friday, December 29.

For his part, João Pedro Sousa used his usual 4x2x3x1 formation of Luiz Júnior, Nathan, Mihaj, Justin, Moura, Topic, Zaydou Youssouf, Chiquinho, Gustavo Sá, Théo and Jhonder Cádiz in the 1-1 home draw against Estoril.