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Benfica welcome Gil Vicente to the Estádio da Luz in their midweek Portuguese Primeira Liga fixture on Wednesday.
The hosts suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of city rivals Sporting in the Taca da Liga final, which was the first defeat of the year for the capital club.
Gil Vicente have enjoyed a great run of form and are unbeaten in their last four league outings, securing a win in three of them. They recorded a 1-0 win over Portimonense last Sunday as they remained one of three clubs in the Portuguese top-flight without a loss in 2022 across all competitions.
Benfica vs Gil Vicente Head-to-Head
There have been 44 meetings between the two sides across all competitions since 1990. As expected, the home side have dominated proceedings against their northern rivals with 33 wins to their name.
Gil Vicente have just two wins in their last 18 encounters with As Águias and five wins overall. The spoils have been shared six times between the two sides.
They last squared off in a league fixture earlier this season, with the game ending in a 2-0 win for Benfica.
Benfica form guide (all competitions): L-W-W-D-W
Gil Vicente form guide (Primeira Liga): W-D-W-W-L
Benfica vs Gil Vicente Team News
Benfica
There are no fresh injury concerns for the hosts to worry about for this league fixture. Rodrigo Pinho, Lucas Veríssimo and Haris Seferovic remain sidelined with injuries. Rafa Silva tested positive for COVID-19 last week and needs to undergo a test before this game.
Nicolás Otamendi and Darwin Nunez remain unavailable as they are on international duty with Argentina and Uruguay respectively.
Injured: Rodrigo Pinho, Lucas Veríssimo, Haris Seferovic
Doubtful: Rafa Silva
Unavailable: Nicolás Otamendi, Darwin Nunez
Gil Vicente
Murilo Souza is a long-term absentee for the Gilistas on account of a ruptured Achilles tendon. João Afonso is the other player who will not be making the trip to Lisbon for the visiting side.
Injured: Murilo Souza
Doubtful: João Afonso
Unavailable: None
Benfica vs Gil Vicente Predicted XI
Benfica Predicted XI (4-4-2): Odysseas Vlachodimos; Valentino Lazaro, Jan Vertonghen, André Almeida, Alejandro Grimaldo; Gilberto, Julian Weigl, Joao Mario, Pizzi; Roman Yaremchuk, Everton
Gil Vicente Predicted XI (4-3-3): Ziga Frelih; Talocha, Ruben Fernandes, Lucas Ferrugem, Ze Carlos; Pedrinho, Carvalho, Kanya Fujimoto; Samuel Lino, Fran Navarro, Bilel Aoucheria
Benfica vs Gil Vicente Prediction
Benfica have struggled in their recent outings and have three losses in seven games across all competitions. Gil Vicente have lost just once in their travels this term and have earned more points away from home.
Taking that into consideration, we expect the game to be closely contested between the two sides and it should end in a low-scoring draw.
Prediction: Benfica 1-1 Gil Vicente
