Liga Betclic: Arouca-Benfica X-ray

Four consecutive wins in all competitions, 14 games unbeaten in the Liga Betclic and involved on all fronts. With this calling card, Benfica go into matchday 16, the first of 2024, to face Arouca away from home, an opponent they have already beaten 0-2, on matchday 1 of the League Cup Group B.

The 12 previous league matches between the two teams show a clear dominance by the Eagles, who have won 10 of them and drawn one. The current form, however, shows an opponent who is also enjoying a good run of form. Since the arrival of coach Daniel Sousa, the Arouquenses have picked up three wins - two of them consecutive - in four matches and have climbed to 10th place in the table.

With only 10 goals conceded, Roger Schmidt's side has the best defense in the competition and has kept a clean sheet in eight of the 15 matches played. According to data from the Wyscout platform, the Reds also have the highest percentage of defensive duels won (60.6% against 58.1%) compared to Arouca, who, despite conceding twice as many goals as the Reds (20), allow fewer shots: 149 against 156.

In terms of possession percentage, Benfica has 59.7% of the ball and, this Saturday, the 6th, they will face one of the six teams out of the 18 in the league with a possession percentage of more than 50% (50.4%). The Eagles' dominance is accentuated by hitting 86.2% of the 8,333 passes attempted, well above the rest of their competitors.

The Glorioso's next opponents are balanced on the offensive front, with records that allow them to join the Eagles in the top 5 of the Liga Betclic. With 22 goals scored compared to 28 for the reigning national champions, Arouca is the fourth team with the most shots (199), a ranking led by Benfica with 261, and has the third top scorer in the competition: Rafa Mujica has eight goals to his name, five of them in the last four games.

With his goal and two assists in the win over Famalicão, Rafa now has five shots on target and has overtaken Di María as Benfica's top scorer in the competition, also becoming the player (on equal terms) with the most assists in the league: six.

It should be noted that, as well as shots, Roger Schmidt's team also leads the way in terms of crosses (299), dribbles (567) and touches of the ball in the opponent's penalty area (441), data that illustrates the Reds' strong attacking flair.

In his final game of 2023, Roger Schmidt fielded an eleven made up of Trubin, Aursnes, Tomás Araújo, António Silva, Morato, João Neves, Kökcü, João Mário, Tiago Gouveia, Rafa and Arthur Cabral in a 3-0 win over Famalicão on matchday 15 of the Liga Betclic.

For their part, Arouca won 1-4 at Estrela da Amadora with Arruabarrena, Milovanov, Galovic, Montero, Tiago Esgaio, Eboue Kouassi, David Simão, Cristo, Morlaye Silla, Jason and Rafa Mujica arranged in a 4x3x3 formation by coach Daniel Sousa.