This Friday (13th), the highly anticipated santa clara vs benfica matchup will open the 22nd round of Liga Portugal’s 2025/26 season. The game will take place at Estádio de São Miguel, Azores, and will start at 3:30 PM (Brasilia time).
Given the desperate attempt by Santa Clara to avoid relegation as well as the pressure on Benfica to win their league, you can expect an entertaining game with plenty of goals.
Santa Clara vs Benfica: Match Information
Competition: Liga Portugal 2025/26 – Round 22
Date: Friday (13)
Time: 3:30 PM (Brasília time)
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Venue: Estádio de São Miguel
Where to Watch: Disney+ (Live Streaming)
Where to Watch Santa Clara vs Benfica Live
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The live streaming of the match between santa clara vs benfica will be available on Disney+.
Santa Clara Team News & Form
The team of Santa Clara has a tough job to do before taking on Benfica at Estadio da Luz this Sunday as they are currently in the relegation zone with only 17 points in the league table. Thus, they have only two points behind the next closest team outside of the zone.
Therefore, it’s important for Petit (the new manager) to make a significant change in performance. It appears that the club has no choice but to adopt a more defensive style of play and try to take advantage of any mistakes that they can force from Benfica. There are no new injury worries for Petit, who will have access to most of his players for this important home match.
Benfica Team News & Form
Benfica come into the third position with 49 points, seven points behind the leaders, and cannot afford to lose any more points if they are to remain in the running for the title.
Although they know the difficulties of playing in the Azores, the Lisbon giants will count on their superior technical ability and attacking strength. Benfica know that they cannot repeat the first leg result and understand the importance of scoring early in the game to dictate the rhythm of the encounter.
The confidence is high after their last league victory, and the team is expected to go to this santa clara vs benfica match with an attacking mentality.
Santa Clara vs Benfica: Current Standings and Impact
Benfica: 3rd position, 49 points – in pursuit of the leadership position
Santa Clara: 17 points – positioned in the relegation zone
A win for Benfica will keep their hopes of winning the championship title alive. For Santa Clara, even a single point may be crucial in their fight to stay out of the relegation zone.
Santa Clara vs Benfica Probable Lineups
Santa Clara (Predicted XI)
Gabriel Batista; Lucas Soares, Sandro Lima, Venâncio, Paulo Victor; Pedro Ferreira, Serginho, Klismahn; Vinícius Lopes, Gabriel Silva, Wendel Silva.
Coach: Petit
Benfica (Predicted XI)
Trubin; Tomás Araújo, António Silva, Otamendi, Dahl; Barreiro, Aursnes; Prestianni, Sudakov, Schjelderup; Pavlidis.
Coach: José Mourinho
Match Preview & Tactical Outlook
Both teams, Santa Clara and Benfica have different strategies going into their match against one another. For Santa Clara, they most likely will play defensively and look to counter-attack quickly.
For Benfica, they will likely try to maintain control of the ball during the whole game, but expect their opponents to be pressing in the last third of the field.
Playing in the Azores has always been a challenge for away teams; however, if Benfica can start the game well, their depth could help them succeed.
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