The Benfica & Sporting Braga managers J. Pinheiro de Jesus and C. Soares da Costa Faria Carvalhal are both dreading and looking forward to this decisive game in the upper regions of the Primeira Liga league table.
It's no vacation for neither Benfica nor Sporting Braga as both were in action only a few days ago. Expect some tired legs on the pitch and/or possibly some changes to the lineups.
Benfica form and stats
As mentioned below, Benfica are feasting on a winning streak here so far with maximum points from their first 3 Primeira Liga games.
Benfica drew their last game, also a home match. Rangers was the opponent, 3-3 the score. A Primeira Liga defeat was the result before that one, 0-3 away at Boavista.
There was plenty of action in the dying minutes of the game against Rangers as Darwin Núñez's goal in the 90th minute completed a cancellation of 1-3 and secured a draw after 90 minutes. As you can tell by the result above, the goals flowed freely in the previous game and the stadium rocked. Could there be another goal fest today? Darwin Núñez was able to secure the draw 3-3 in the game against Rangers after coming on as a substitute and scoring the final goal. In the starting lineup today?
The Benfica manager J. Pinheiro de Jesus has got the team scoring with 7 from 3 home games in the league. From these home matches, Benfica have conceded only 2 goals.
Sporting Braga form and stats
Sporting Braga have six points from their first three away games in the Primeira Liga, meaning two victories and a loss. The fact that Braga have won four matches in a row should scare the hosts and makes this contest more interesting. Winning streaks in away matches are not that common, but Braga are close to a proper streak after winning their two previous away games.
Braga have succeeded in guarding their own goal lately, led by their goalkeeper Matheus Lima Magalhaes. It's been 184 minutes since they last conceded in Primeira Liga.
There might be some fixture complaints from Sporting Braga as they are again playing away from home after losing on the road in their previous match, the Europa League match against Leicester City (0-4). Prior to that match, a home win 1-0 against Famalicao in the Primeira Liga.
Braga lost the plot completely in their previous game, as mentioned above. They need to recover quickly from that 0-4 beating and focus on this one.
The Braga manager C. Soares da Costa Faria Carvalhal has got the team scoring on the road, with 6 away goals in 3 league matches. As opposed to that, Sporting Braga have seen the ball go into their own net 3 times on the road.
Head 2 Head
Numbers for the last ten meetings between these two teams are: eight wins for Benfica, one draw and one win for Sporting Braga. Over 2,5 goals: seven times; under 2,5 goals: three games.Benfica missing players
Sporting Braga missing players
| Benfica | Sporting Braga | ||||||
| Total | Home | vs | Statistics | Stat | vs | Away | Total |
| 6 | 3 | 0 | Played | P | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| 5 | 3 | 0 | Won | W | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | Drew | D | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | Lost | L | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 15 | 7 | 0 | Scored | S | 2 | 6 | 9 |
| 6 | 2 | 0 | Conceded | C | 3 | 3 | 5 |
| 100% | 100% | 0% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| 100% | 100% | 0% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 50% | 67% | 50% |
| 67% | 33% | 0% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 50% | 67% | 50% |
| 33% | 33% | 0% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 50% | 67% | 33% |
| 33% | 33% | 0% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| 33% | 33% | 0% | BTTS | BTTS | 50% | 33% | 33% |
| 50% | 67% | 0% | Clean Sheets | C S | 50% | 67% | 50% |
| 17% | 0% | 0% | Failed to Score | F T | 0% | 0% | 17% |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2.3 | 1.7 | 0 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 3 | 2 | 1.7 |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 90 | 56 | 0 | Total Shots | T S | 23 | 42 | 104 |
| 38 | 23 | 0 | Shots on Target | S O | 9 | 17 | 37 |
| 39% | 30% | 0% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 22% | 35% | 24% |
- All of Benfica's matches have had more than 1,5 goals.
- Benfica has the most points (9) at home in Primeira Liga
- Benfica have scored at least twice as many goals as they have conceded.
- Benfica have won all their matches at home so far.
- Benfica haven’t played a single 0-0 game.
- Benfica is in the best form (5-0-1)
- Sporting Braga has the fewest scored goals in the second half (1) in Primeira Liga
- Sporting Braga have scored in all their away matches so far.
- Sporting Braga haven’t played a single 0-0 game.
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Sporting CP | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 11 | 16 |
| 2 | Benfica | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 15 |
| 3 | Sporting Braga | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 12 |
| 4 | Porto | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 10 |
| 5 | Vitoria Guimaraes | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 6 | Santa Clara | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 10 |
| 7 | Rio Ave | 7 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| 8 | Famalicao | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | -3 | 9 |
| 9 | Pacos de Ferreira | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 8 |
| 10 | Moreirense | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | -1 | 8 |
| 11 | Tondela | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | -6 | 8 |
| 12 | Nacional | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| 13 | Belenenses | 7 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -2 | 7 |
| 14 | Maritimo | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 8 | -3 | 7 |
| 15 | Boavista | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 6 | -3 | 6 |
| 16 | Gil Vicente | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 5 |
| 17 | Portimonense | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | -4 | 4 |
| 18 | Farense | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | -5 | 2 |