Fresh off the back of reaching the Taca de Portugal semi-finals, Vitoria de Guimaraes and Benfica lock horns at the Dom Afonso Henriques in round 21 of the Primeira Liga on Sunday.
Having failed to win any of their last 20 meetings between the teams, Os Vimaranenses will head into the weekend desperate to get one over the visitors and pick up an eighth home victory on the bounce.
Match preview
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Vitoria de Guimaraes continued their quest for a second Taca de Portugal title as they cruised to a 3-1 victory over Gil Vicente in their quarter-final clash on Thursday.
After racing into a comfortable lead thanks to Tiago Silva and Andre Silva, Murilo Souza pulled one back in the 37th minute, but Jota Silva restored the hosts' two-goal lead to cap off an action-packed first half and send the Gilistas packing.
This was in keeping with their impressive run of results in the Primeira Liga, where Vitoria de Guimaraes are unbeaten in eight of their last nine matches, picking up six wins and two draws since the start of December.
Os Vimaranenses' only defeat in that time came on January 28, when they were beaten 1-0 by Gil Vicente at the Estadio Cidade de Barcelos courtesy of an 85th-minute strike from Swiss midfielder Maxime Dominguez.
Having secured a sixth-placed finish in the league last season, Guimaraes are on course to secure European football once again as they sit fifth in the Primeira Liga table, just one point behind Braga in the Europa Conference League qualification spot.
With Thursday's result, Alvaro Pacheco's side have now won each of their last seven home games across all competitions, scoring 17 goals and keeping three clean sheets since November's 2-1 defeat against Porto.
Guimaraes will have to show their mettle this weekend as they go up against a Benfica side who are unbeaten in each of their last 20 encounters, claiming 16 wins and four draws since November 2008.
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Roger Schmidt's men were made to work their socks off for a place in the semi-finals of the Taca de Portugal as they scraped a 2-1 victory against Vizela when the sides squared off in midweek.
After going two goals up courtesy of strikes from Arthur Cabral and Joao Mario, Benfica had to overcome a late comeback scare at the Estadio do FC Vizela after Sava Petrov pulled one back for the hosts in the 68th minute.
As Aguias now turn their attention to the Primeira Liga, where they are currently on a seven-match winning streak and are unbeaten in their last 19 matches, stretching back to a 3-2 loss against Boavista in the opening weekend.
Having ended their four-year title drought last season, Benfica look set to retain the Primeira Liga crown as they currently sit at the top of the league standings, two points above second-placed Sporting Lisbon.
With the first leg of their Europa League knockout-stage clash against French outfit Toulouse on the horizon, Benfica will head into the weekend looking to pick up a morale-boosting result and set the pace ahead of their return to action in Europe.
Team News
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With his strike against Gil Vicente, Jota Silva now has six goal involvements in his last six matches and the former Casa Pia man should lead Guimaraes' attack once again.
He should be joined in attack by 29-year-old Joao Mendes and Brazilian forward Andre Silva, who has scored in four of his last five matches.
At the opposite end of the pitch, we expect an unchanged back three of Toni Borevkovic, Jorge Fernandes, Tomas Ribeiro, while Tomas Handel and Tiago Silva should retain their roles at the centre of the park.
As for Benfica, Juan Bernat has been out of action since picking a muscle injury back in October and the former Paris Saint-Germain man is out of contention for Sunday's tie.
He is joined on As Aguias' injury table by 23-year-old forward Casper Tengstedt, who is yet to make an appearance this year after coming off with a thigh problem in the cup game against AVS on December 21.
Vitoria de Guimaraes possible starting lineup:
Varela; Borevkovic, Fernandes, Ribeiro; Maga, Handel, T Silva, Mangas; Mendes, A Silva, J Silva
Benfica possible starting lineup:
Trubin; Bah, Silva, Otamendi, Morato; Neves, Luis; Di Maria, Silva, Aursnes; Cabral
We say: Vitoria de Guimaraes 1-2 Benfica
Vitoria de Guimaraes have put together a fine run of results and will head into the weekend with plenty of optimism as they look to end their dire record against Benfica. However, Schmidt's side boast the firepower needed to get this one over the line and we fancy them to claim all three points once again.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
