BENFICA VS TONDELA PREVIEW & PREDICTION
Benfica and Tondela meet at Estádio do Sport Lisboa and Benfica (da Luz), in a match for the 32nd round of the Primeira Liga. In the last direct confrontation for this edition of the league, on 12-17-2017, Benfica won out by (1-5). The history of recent direct matches is favorable to the home team, who have registered 5 wins in the last 5 matches. Despite being a match between 1st and 11th of the table, it is actually a match between the 4th classified in home matches and the 6th as a visitor.
Benfica:
After 24 wins, 5 draws and 2 losses, the home team is currently in the 1 st position, with 77 points won. In their last match, they won in an away match against Estoril by (1-2), after in the previous match they lost (0-1) at home, against Porto. This is a team little affected by the home factor, that is, usually conquer as many points at home as outside. In his last games he scored 44 goals and suffered 6 at home, against 33 scored and 13 suffered as a visitor. In the last 10 home league matches Benfica has a record of 8 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, so they have won 25 points out of 30 possible. Their attack has scored regularly, since they have scored goals in 9 of the last 10 matches for this competition. In 31 matches in the competition, they suffered the first goal 8 times, but got the comeback in 4.
Benfica started for this motivated game, having beaten Estoril in the last minutes, 1-2, returning to the triumphs after the defeat against the rival FC Porto. We remember that the locals seek to reach FC Porto at the top of the leaderboard. In this game against the fans, coach Rui Vitória must opt for a very offensive strategy, with a medium or high block, thus exploring the defensive difficulties of the opponent. It is important to note that the best marker, Jonas, is still absent from the team due to injury, but we believe that it will not be a serious problem in this game. In addition to this player, the local coach can not count on Krovinovic, also due to injury.
Tondela:
After 9 wins, 8 draws and 14 losses, the away team is currently in the 11 th position of the league, with 35 points won. In the last match, they have won at home against Desportivo Aves by (3-0), after in the previous match they have tied tied in an away match against Rio Ave, by (1-1). This is a team that usually maintains its competitive level in home and away matches, with 11 goals scored and 15 conceded in away matches, against 26 goals scored and 28 conceded at home. In the last 10 away matches for the championship Tondela has 3 wins, 3 draws and 4 losses, so they have won 12 points out of 30 possible. Their attack has scored regularly, since they have scored goals in 8 of the last 10 matches for this competition. In their away matches there is a tendency for few goals, since 13 of the last 15 matches for this competition have ended with Under 2,5 goals. In 31 matches in this competition, they have only 1 comeback in the 16 matches they have conceded the first goal.
The season of Tondela is not being very difficult and at this moment it is in the middle part of the qualifying table. In the last match for the championship, the visiting team added a positive result at home, beating the Aves 3-0. In this difficult match coach Pepa must keep the team in a 4-3-3, benefiting the defensive organization and counterattacks through the flanks. Striker Tomané is the best finalist of Tondela, with 8 goals scored. For this game the coach can not count on Ansell, Pité and Murilo, injured, in addition to Pedro Nuno, player who represents this club on loan from Benfica.
PREDICTION: Over 3.5 goals @ 1.87
