📏 Form Guide

Arouca

WLDLLD

Arouca prepare for this match following a 0-0 Primeira Liga stalemate against Famalicão.

In that match, Arouca managed 50% possession and 9 attempts on goal with 1 on target. On the other side, Famalicao got 6 attempts on goal with 2 of them on target.

Arouca have really struggled up front of late. Their ‘goals for’ figure equals just 4 vs opposition teams during their last 6 outings. In those games, Arouca have also seen the number of goals against them come to 11.

Their previous form shows that Arouca:

• haven't beaten Benfica in their previous 9 matches in the league.
• are without a home win in the past 3 league matches.

Benfica

LWWLWW

Benfica go into this meeting following on from a 2-3 Champions League win versus Monaco in their last fixture.

In that game, Benfica managed 54% possession and 18 shots on goal with 8 of them on target. For Benfica, the goals were scored by Vangelis Pavlidis (48'), Arthur Cabral (84') and Zeki Amdouni (88'). On the other side, Monaco had 11 attempts at goal with 5 of them on target. Eliesse Ben Seghir (13') and Soungoutou Magassa (67') scored for Monaco.

In as many as 5 of the previous 6 clashes featuring Benfica, three or more goals have gone in. The overall average goals scored per match within that spell is 3.67, with the number of goals averaged by Benfica working out to 2.67. With no two games being the same, time will tell if the trend shall be sustained here in this game.

Analysis of their past results shows that Benfica:

• are undefeated by Arouca when having played them away from home in the previous 4 league games. An impressive run.
• are unbeaten in their last 3 league matches away from home.

↔️ Head to head

An inspection of past results between these clubs stretching back to 14/08/2021 tells us that these encounters have ended in disappointment for Arouca. They have not managed to register any wins whatsoever while Benfica have just been too good for them, finishing as winners in 100% of those match-ups.

A sum of 19 goals were scored between the two sides throughout the course of those matches, with 0 of them from Arouca and 19 created by Benfica. This gives an average number of goals per game equal to 3.17.

The previous league fixture featuring these sides was Primeira Liga match day 33 on 12/05/2024 which ended up with the score at Benfica 5-0 Arouca.

That day, Benfica managed 50% possession and 19 attempts on goal with 9 on target. Goals were scored by Ángel Di María (25'), Orkun Kökçü (32'), Rafa Silva (42', 46') and Casper Tengstedt (77').

At the other end, Arouca got 5 attempts on goal with 1 on target.

The referee was Fábio Melo.

📰 Team News: Arouca

Pedro Moreira (unknown injury), Matías Rocha (Nose injury), Nino Galović (unknown injury), Uri Busquets (unknown injury), Eboue Kouassi (Knock) and Vitinho (unknown injury) will be missing for Arouca boss Vasco Seabra.

We are thinking that Arouca may well use a 4-2-3-1 formation for the game with Nico Mantl, Tiago Esgaio, Chico Lamba, Jose Fontan, Amadou Dante, Mamadou Loum Ndiaye, David Simao, Jason, Ivo Rodrigues, Morlaye Sylla and Alfonso Trezza.

🗞️ Team News: Benfica

Benfica boss Bruno Lage has to choose a team with limited availability. Renato Sanches (Muscle injury), Gianluca Prestianni (Ankle injury) and Tiago Gouveia (Shoulder injury) are not able to play.

We’re of the thinking that Benfica appear most likely to elect for a 4-2-3-1 formation by sending out Anatolii Trubin, Alexander Bah, Tomas Araujo, Nicolas Otamendi, Alvaro Carreras, Fredrik Aursnes, Florentino Luis, Angel Di Maria, Orkun Kokcu, Kerem Akturkoglu and Vangelis Pavlidis.

🧠 Prediction

Our thinking is that Arouca have the capability to find the back of the net against this Benfica outfit, but a single goal probably won’t quite be as many as they will have scored against them.

We are therefore anticipating a 1-2 advantage for Benfica at the end of the match. Hopefully this is a good one.

Our expert partners are tipping over 1.5 goals for this match. Check out their VIP predictions here.

Peter Guest, 17:03 01/12/2024