Seeking to extend their lead at the summit of the Portuguese Primeira Liga standings, Benfica take a trip to the Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques to square off against Vitoria de Guimaraes on Saturday.
Roger Schmidt's men are currently on a blistering run of 19 consecutive victories across all competitions since May and will be looking to keep the juggernaut rolling.
Match preview
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Vitoria de Guimaraes turned in a resilient team performance in their most recent outing when they fought back from behind twice to salvage a 2-2 draw against Arouca at the Estadio Municipal de Arouca two Sundays ago.
Mateus Quaresma and Andre Bukia scored either side of Anderson Silva's 57th minute equaliser to put the Arouquenses in front, but Ruben Lameiras converted his penalty in the 12th minute of stoppage time to force a share of the spoils.
Prior to that, Vitoria de Guimaraes ended their three-game losing streak on September 9 when they edged out Santa Clara 1-0 on home turf courtesy of a 48th-minute effort from Silva.
Os Vimaranenses head into the weekend unbeaten in all but one of their last nine games across all competitions, claiming seven wins and one draw — with a 1-0 loss at the hands of Casa Pia on September 29 being the only exception.
With 10 points from their opening seven games, Joao Miguel Teixeira's men are currently ninth in the Primeira Liga standings, level on points with eighth-placed Sporting Lisbon.
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Benfica, on the other hand, maintained their perfect start to the new campaign as they steamrolled league strugglers Maritimo 5-0 when the sides squared off in Lisbon on September 19.
Goals from Rafa Silva, David Neres, summer signing Julian Draxler and a brace from 21-year-old Goncalo Ramos condemned O Maior das Ilhas to a seventh defeat in seven games this season.
This followed a 2-1 comeback victory over perennial Italian champions Juventus on September 14 in Group H of the Champions League, where they are currently level on six points with first-placed Paris Saint-Germain after two rounds of matches.
Roger Schmidt's men, who have won their last 19 matches across all competitions, currently sit top of the Primeira Liga standings, two points above second-placed Braga, who are also unbeaten this term.
Benfica will fancy their chances of keeping this superb run alive and kicking as their next task pits them against a Vitoria de Guimaraes side who are winless in the last 20 meetings between the teams, picking up just three draws and losing 17 since February 2012.
Team News
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Vitoria de Guimaraes will take to the pitch without the defensive duo of Miguel Maga and Bruno Gaspar, who are both recuperating from injuries.
They are joined on the club's injury table by Jorge Fernandes, who is set to sit out his third consecutive game after coming off injured against Braga on September 3.
Andre Silva has missed the last five matches following an injury that he sustained in August's game against Estoril Praia on August 14, while 21-year-old Tomas Handel also continued his spell on the sidelines.
Silva, who completed a summer move from Chinese Super League side Beijing Guoan, has scored in his last two outings and the Brazilian forward should spearhead Vitoria's attack once again.
Benfica, on the other hand, will be unable to call upon the services of 21-year-old defender Tomas Tavares, who has been out of action since May through a knee injury.
Benfica's Brazilian trio of Joao Victor, Lucas Verissimo and Felipe Morato will also play no part in this weekend's matchup as they all continue their spells on the sidelines.
Off the back of a superb attacking performance against Maritimo, we expect Schmidt to name an unchanged attacking quartet of Neres, Silva, Joao Mario and Ramos, who has netted four goals in six games.
Vitoria de Guimaraes possible starting lineup:
Varela; Amaro, Villanueva, Bamba; Carlos, Andre, Silva, Sa; Lameiras, Silva, Luz
Benfica possible starting lineup:
Vlachodimos; Bah, Silva, Otamendi, Grimaldo; Fernandez, Aursnes, Neres, Mario, Silva; Ramos
We say: Vitoria de Guimaraes 0-2 Benfica
Benfica head into the weekend as the most in-form side in the division, claiming 19 wins from their last 19 games in all competitions. They have been imperious in the history of this fixture and we predict that they will extend their dominance over Vitoria by claiming a comfortable victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
