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FC Porto vs Benfica Prediction & Betting tips
When two people argue, it is well known that the third is happy. This is exactly what could happen on matchday 14 of the Primeira Liga. While FC Porto and Benfica Lisbon are currently in second and third place with 31 out of 39 possible points, Sporting Lisbon is unbeaten and four points ahead of the current table. If the Portuguese classico only ends in a draw between Porto and Benfica, that would be a small milestone for Sporting towards their first championship since 2002.
Accordingly, both pursuers have to play for victory. According to the odds comparison of the betting base in the run-up to the match between Porto and Benfica Lisbon, the odds of the bookmakers in the direction of the hosts.
After all, the Dragões are considered to be very strong at home. Although they surprisingly lost a home game 2: 3 against Marítimo at the beginning of October, they lead the Primeira Liga home table with 18 out of 21 points. On the other hand, Benfica won “only” four out of six league games away and only lost 2-0 to Porto in Supertaca at the end of December.
Porto:
Between 2014 and 2017, FC Porto had to watch arch-rivals Benfica win the Portuguese championship four times in a row. Then the Dragões signed Sérgio Conceição as their new head coach in the summer of 2017 and made an emphatic return at the national level.
In the first year under the new coach, the Azuis e brancos (in German: the blue-whites) won the championship. In the summer of 2020, the first double from the championship title and Taca de Portugal since 2011 was recorded.
Suddenly FC Porto was again the measure of all things in the country of the reigning European champions. It is all the more sobering for the Dragões to look at the Primeira Liga table at the moment. There the reigning double winner, who also won the Supertaca at the end of December, is four points behind championship leaders Sporting. And that, although Porto has won the last ten competitive games in a row across all competitions.
Accordingly, only the home win counts against arch rivals Benfica Lisbon. Ultimately, it is clear that the club that loses this duel will say goodbye to the fight for the championship for the time being.
That the Azuis e brancos will stick with a home win is quite likely, at least with a view to their strong home record. In their home country Estádio do Dragão, FC Porto scored 18 out of a possible 21 points. That brings the Dragões first place in the home table.
The 18 goals scored in their own stadium also certify the Conceição-Elf the best home offensive in the Primeira Liga, which means that Porto against Benfica Lisbon tip 1 is basically under a good star. Only the defense needs to be readjusted. The Azuis e brancos have already conceded 16 goals so far, making them the seventh weakest defense in the league.
Benfica Lisbon :
Things are not going too well for Benfica Lisbon these days either. The reigning runner-up managed a great coup in the summer when Jorge Jesus, the former head coach from 2009 to 2015, was able to get rid of Flamengo Rio de Janeiro. With the Brazilian club, the 66-year-old won the national championship and the Copa Libertadores.
Coupled with newcomers for around 100 million euros transfer fees, the Águias (in German: the eagles) actually wanted to reach for their 38th national championship. After five wins in a row at the start of the league, however, a weak November thwarted the ambitions.
One after the other, Benfica lost first to Boavista Porto (0: 3) and then to Sporting Braga (2: 3). In the first game of the calendar year 2021, the 1-1 draw against Santa Clara was again something that would have been firmly planned against such small opponents.
It is clear that the Encarnados (in German: the Reds) in the Clássico against Porto as well as in the Lisbon city derby, which is on the agenda two weeks later, absolutely need a victory in order not to lose track in the battle for the championship. Especially in the Primeira Liga, where the performance gap is extreme, a handful of lost games can bury hopes for the title.
The Águias also experienced a setback at the end of December when a 2-0 defeat against FC Porto was recorded in the Supertaca, the Portuguese counterpart to the Super Cup. A bankruptcy from which the right conclusions must be drawn today, but which certainly affects the odds at Porto against Benfica Lisbon.
On Tuesday evening, Benfica celebrated a sovereign entry into the next round of the Taca de Portugal with a 4-0 win at Estrela da Amadora.
FC Porto vs Benfica head to head matches
23.12.20 SC FC Porto Benfica 2 : 0
01.08.20 TP Benfica FC Porto 1 : 2
08.02.20 PL FC Porto Benfica 3 : 2
24.08.19 PL Benfica FC Porto 0 : 2
02.03.19 PL FC Porto Benfica 1 : 2