Benfica vs Porto prediction, preview, team news and more | Primeira Liga 2021-22
Benfica will host arch-rivals Porto at the Estadio de Luz in the Primeira Liga on Saturday.
With just two games left to play, the visitors need to avoid defeats to be crowned the champions. They will hope to secure a win and the league title in this edition of the O Classico.
They suffered their first defeat against Braga almost a fortnight ago but bounced back with a 4-2 win against Vizela last week.
Benfica, meanwhile, have secured a third-placed finish this term. securing a narrow 1-0 win at Maritimo last time around.
Benfica vs Porto Head-to-Head
This will be the 250th official meeting between the two teams. The Dragoes have 99 wins in this fixture and will be keen to bring up a century of wins against the Lisbon giants.
Benfica have 88 wins in this fixture, while 62 games have ended in draws. This will be the third meeting of the season between the two teams, with Porto coming out on top on both occasions.
They secured a 3-1 win in the reverse fixture in the league in December and also secured a 3-0 win in the Taca de Portugal a week before that, both at home.
Benfica form guide (all competitions): W-D-W-D-W.
Porto form guide (all competitions): W-L-W-W-W.
Benfica vs Porto Team News
Benfica
Lucas Verissimo has gradually stepped up his recovery from a serious knee injury but is expected to return to the field only next season. Rafa Silva's involvement in the game remains doubtful.
Injuries: Lucas Verissimo.
Doubtful: Rafa Silva, Rodrigo Pinho.
Suspension: None.
Unavailable: None.
Porto
Wilson Manafa and Bruno Costa were the two players reported as injured by the visitors ahead of the game. Manafa is likely to sit this one out, while Costa faces a late fitness test.
Injury: Wilson Manafa.
Suspension: None.
Doubtful: Bruno Costa.
Unavailable: None.
Benfica vs Porto Predicted XIs
Benfica (4-4-2): Odysseas Vlachodimos (GK); Andre Almeida, Nicolas Otamendi, Jan Vertonghen, Gilberto; Everton, Joao Mario, Julian Weigl, Gil Dias; Roman Yaremchuk, Darwin Nunez.
Porto (4-4-2): Diogo Costa (GK); Zaid Sanusi, Chancel Mbemba, Pepe, Joao Mario; Fabio Vieira, Stephen Eustaquio, Vitinha, Otavio; Evanilson, Mehdi Taremi.
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Benfica vs Porto Prediction
As Aguias have a clean sheet in their last three league games but have also scored just three goals. Porto, meanwhile, have scored 11 goals in the same period, keeping two clean sheets and conceding just once.
With both teams looking to finish their campaigns on a high, the game is expected to be a closely contested affair. Given the better goalscoring form of the visitors and the higher stakes for them with the league title in sight, they should be able to beat their arch-rivals here.
Prediction: Benfica 1-2 Porto.