Gameweek four in the 2024-25 Primeira Liga season will get underway at Parque Desportivo Comendador Joaquim de Almeida Freitas with Moreirense taking on Benfica on Friday night.
Both teams have made almost identical starts to the new campaign, earning six points from their first three matches, with the hosts currently in seventh place while the visitors are one spot above them.
Match preview
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Moreirense's return to the top flight last season was nothing short of remarkable, as they secured a sixth-placed finish and were a part of the European qualification conversation for the majority of the campaign.
Os Verdes e Brancos ended the season with four wins in a row and kicked off the new campaign in the same vein, notching up back-to-back victories over Farense and Arouca in their first two games.
Their perfect start to the season was brought to an end last week, though, when they travelled to Estadio Municipal de Braga and suffered a 3-1 defeat with Rodrigo Zalazar netting a brace in the second half after Luis Asue cancelled out Gabri Martinez's opener.
Still, it has been a positive start to life in Moreira de Conegos for Cesar Peixoto who replaced now-Vitoria Guimaraes manager Rui Borges this summer, and the new boss will be eager to maintain his unbeaten record at home in this one.
However, when these sides last met, Moreirense suffered a 3-0 defeat at Estadio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, which was a result that extended the team's winless record against As Aguias to nine matches, including five losses and four draws.
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Meanwhile, Benfica's primary objective this season will undoubtedly be to win back the Primeira Liga title after they failed to keep up with Sporting last term, with the champions finishing 10 points clear at the top of the table.
This term, As Aguias already find themselves trailing the champs by three points heading into gameweek four of the season, owing to an unexpected 2-0 defeat away to Famalicao over the opening week.
However, that result may just have been down to rustiness, as Roger Schmidt's side bounced back from that defeat in the best way possible, beating Casa Pia 3-0 the following week before overcoming Estrela 1-0 last weekend.
Notably, though, both Benfica's victories this season were on their home patch while their defeat came on the road, extending their winless away record in the top flight to three games, following a loss to Famalicao and a draw against Rio Ave at the end of the last season.
Additionally, while the visitors enter this match as the bookmakers' favourite, they failed to win on either of their last two visits to this venue, drawing goalless in the league last season and playing out a 1-1 draw in the Taca da Liga in 2022.
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Team News
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Luis Asue failed to score a single league goal in 15 appearances for Moreirense last season after arriving from Braga, but the Equatorial Guinea striker has shot out the blocks this term, scoring in each of his side's first three games.
Asue will almost certainly continue to lead the line this weekend, while Sidnei Tavares, Madson, and Jeremy Antonisse will likely provide the attacking support from midfield with Lawrence Ofori operating in the number six role.
Jan-Niklas Beste and Tiago Gouveia were both absent from the matchday squad last week after picking up knocks against Casa Pia and the pair are flagged as doubts for this match as well.
Former Real Madrid attacker Angel Di Maria missed the first two games of the season with a muscle injury but returned to the bench last weekend and should be in contention to start on Friday.
Moreirense possible starting lineup:
Kewin; Fabiano, Marcelo, Maracas, Frimpong; Ofori, Ismael; Madson, Tavares, Antonisse; Asue
Benfica possible starting lineup:
Trubin; Bah, Araujo, Otamendi, Carreras; Barreiro, Luis; Aursnes, Kokcu, Di Maria; Pavlidis
We say: Moreirense 1-1 Benfica
While Benfica have notched up back-to-back wins heading into this match, their performances in those games, particularly last week, were far from impressive, and we feel they will struggle to take all three points off the steadily improving Moreirense in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
