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Benfica will welcome Famalicao to the Estadio da Luz in the Primeira Liga on Saturday.
The hosts are third in the league standings and made it two wins in as many games with a 2-0 victory against arch-rivals Sporting in their last outing. They are no longer in contention for the league title, so they will look forward to cementing their UEFA Champions League qualification playoffs berth.
Famalicao, meanwhile, find themselves in a rut at the moment and are without a win in their last six outings. They played out a 2-2 draw against Gil Vicente last time around. They are just three points above the drop zone and need to return to winning ways.
Benfica vs Famalicao Head-to-Head
This will be just the 16th meeting between the two teams since 1990. Famalicao have just one win against the Lisbon giants, who have dominated this fixture with 11 wins, while three games have ended in draws.
Interestingly, Benfica have a 100% record in home fixtures against the Famalicenses. The two teams last met at the Estadio Municipal de Famalicao in December, which ended in a comfortable 4-1 win for As Aguias.
Benfica form guide (all competitions): W-D-W-L-L.
Famalicao form guide (all competitions): D-L-L-D-D.
Benfica vs Famalicao Team News
Benfica
Lucas Verissimo and Rodrigo Pinho are long-term absentees. Rafa Silva also remains sidelined with a muscle injury. Everton, meanwhile, will serve a one-game suspension, having picked up his fifth yellow card of the campaign in the win over Sporting.
Injured: Lucas Verissimo, Rodrigo Pinho, Rafa Silva.
Doubtful: None.
Suspended: Everton.
Unavailable: None.
Famalicao
David Tavares, Ivan Jaime and Ruben Lima will not travel to Lisbon because of injuries. Meanwhile, the involvement of Ivo Rodrigues and Joao Carlos Teixeira is doubtful.
Diogo Figueiras and Gustavo Assuncao will miss the game because of an accumulation of yellow cards.
Injured: David Tavares, Ivan Jaime, Ruben Lima.
Doubtful: Ivo Rodrigues, Joao Carlos Teixeira.
Suspended: Diogo Figueiras, Gustavo Assuncao.
Unavailable: None.
Benfica vs Famalicao Predicted XIs
Benfica (4-2-3-1): Odysseas Vlachodimos (GK); Andre Almeida, Nicolas Otamendi, Jan Vertonghen, Alex Grimaldo; Julian Weigl, Soualiho Meite; Joao Mario, Roman Yaremchuk, Haris Seferovic; Darwin Nunez.
Famalicao (3-4-3): Luiz Junior (GK); Adrian Marin, Alex, Abdul Wahab Ibrahim; Charles Pickel, Bruno Rodrigues, Pedro Rodrigues, Pedro Brazao; Jhonder Cadiz, Simon Banza, Heriberto Tavares.
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Benfica vs Famalicao Prediction
Benfica lived up to their goalscoring reputation in the Lisbon derby last time around, scoring two goals away from home. They have been in good form at home this term and are strong favourites to win this game.
Famalicao, meanwhile, have done well in the final third and have scored 36 goals so far. However, they have struggled on their travels, picking up just one win in away games since December.
It should be an win for Benfica, who only have league fixtures to focus on for the next month and would like to end the season on a high.
Prediciton: Benfica 3-0 Famalicao.
