Thursday evening is also the time for the Portuguese title holder to resume the season. Modest mid-engine jumps to the Estádio da Luz, where Benfica will attempt to take the lead again. It is only one point behind competitor FC Porto.
Benfica:
For months, the champion of Portugal was also at the top of the Liga NOS in the 2019/2020 season. The performance was therefore no less than in previous years. The statistics are very strong. O Glorioso had a streak of 16 games won and seemed to be heading for the title. However, a few rounds before the corona-stop went wrong for Bruno Lage’s team. After the bizarre series of victories, Benfica did not appear convincing. De Roden played a draw against mid-riders Vitoria Setubal and Moreirense and even lost against FC Porto and Braga. Although the club has scored the most goals and collected the fewest goals, it still lost the lead to its arch rival.
Benfica and FC Porto will compete for the title this year, as Braga is number three and the gap is a whopping thirteen points. Benfica is only one point behind FC Porto. The club from Lisbon has a strong team with captain Pizzi and striker Carlos Vinicius as the main pillars. The latter currently leads the top scorers list and has already scored fifteen goals. Pizzi is approaching in second place and scoring one goal less, but he gave the most assists in the league. Striker Haris Seferovic became top scorer last season, but this season he only managed to find the net twice.
Tondela:
Tondela is a small club from the city of the same name. Since 2004, the club has climbed up the Portuguese football pyramid. Since 2015, the team has been active in the Liga NOS, but they never reached the eleventh place. Every year, the club of Spanish trainer Natxo González fights against relegation. This is again the case this year, because Tondela is only three points above the red line. With a program in which it still hits the full top-4 (Porto, Benfica, Braga and Sporting), that does not bode well for the Auriverdes. The fact that the club is still above the relegation zone is mainly due to the strong performances outside Tondela. Five of the twelve away games were won, while only one home game was won. It is a huge contrast, as Tondela is said to be in seventh place in the away games rankings, while Tondela is in last place in the home games ranking. Nevertheless, the González team managed to beat Sporting Lisbon and last season they beat Benfica for the first time in history. The club is not without a chance, but it promises to be a difficult evening.
PREDICTION: Over 2,5 goals @ 1,60
