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Benfica travel to Estoril in their upcoming Taca de Portugal semi-final first-leg fixture on Wednesday night to take on LigaPro side Estoril Praia.
The match will be played at the Estadio António Coimbra da Mota, just 22km away from Estadio da Luz.
The Lisbon giants won their Primeira Liga fixture against Famalicao thanks to two goals in the opening seven minutes of the game. The hosts are winless in their last four league outings.
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Estoril Praia vs Benfica Head-to-Head
Since 1991, these two sides have locked horns on 22 occasions, and the hosts have failed to record a single win over As Águias.
Meanwhile, 17 games have ended in a win for the visitors, who have scored 52 times in this fixture. The remaining five games have ended in draws, meaning no wins for the Canarinhos in this fixture yet.
They last met in the 2017-18 Primeira Liga campaign at Wednesday's venue. Benfica recorded a 2-1 win in that game.
Estoril Praia form guide across all competitions: L-L-W-D-D
Benfica form guide across all competitions: W-D-L-W-D
Estoril Praia vs Benfica Team News
Estoril Praia
The hosts have a clean bill of health heading into the fixture, apart from an injury to on-loan striker Abdul-Aziz Yakubu. Harramiz will be an absentee for coach Bruno Baltazar.
The winger picked up two yellow cards in their 2-1 loss to Academia and is suspended for the game.
Defender Hugo Gomes returns from a one-game suspension and is expected to be named in the starting XI.
Injuries: Abdul-Aziz Yakubu
Doubtful: None
Suspensions: Harramiz
Benfica
For Benfica, the quartet of Luca Waldschmidt, Andre Almeida, Jardel and Rafa Silva are not expected to make the trip to Estoril due to injuries.
Jorge Jesus is expected to head into the cup tie with the same squad that he used in the 2-0 win over Maritimo over the weekend.
Injuries: Rafa Silva, Andre Almeida, Jardel, Luca Waldschmidt
Doubtful: None
Suspension: None
Estoril Praia vs Benfica Predicted XI
Estoril Praia Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Thiago; Hugo Basto, Carles Soria, Hugo Gomes, Joãozinho; Miguel Crespo, João Gamboa; José Valente, Bruno Lourenço, André Vidigal; André Franco
Benfica Predicted XI (4-4-2): Odysseas Vlachodimos; Alex Grimaldo, Jan Vertonghen, Nicolas Otamendi, Gilberto; Franco Cervi, Julian Weigl, Adel Taarabt, Everton; Pizzi, Darwin Nunez
Estoril Praia vs Benfica Prediction
The hosts have impressed with their performances in the competition so far. They have also been in fine form in LigaPro and are currently in second place.
They have lost two games in a row and we believe Benfica will prove to be too strong an opponent for them.
The visitors have just one win in their last five league outings, but they are expected to record a comfortable win here given their superior squad.
Prediction: Estoril Praia 1-2 Benfica
