As we’re about to explain, last year was a turbulent season for Benfica, but there’s more of an air of stability about them this term and a home match against Gil Vicente, a side that they’ve got a strong record against, should result in them scoring at least three times here.
Betting Tip: Why Benfica Should Be Food for at Least Three Goals
It was an eventful season last year for Benfica, to say the least. They sacked their manager, Bruno Lage, early on in the season, replaced him with the one and only Jose Mourinho, and started the Champions League with four straight losses before miraculously recovering to at least make the Playoffs. But only after Ukrainian goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin scored an injury-time goal at home to Real Madrid to get them into those Playoffs.
Ironically, they then met Real (again) at that stage and lost to them.
In the league, they managed to get back into second position but, right at the end of the season, surrendered that position to Sporting Lisbon, so missed out on Champions League action, before Mourinho left for…Real. Former Fulham manager Marco Silva is now in the hot seat.
Silva helped them eliminate Hearts in Europa League qualifying, but they drew their first league game of the season 2-2. But it’s been all Benfica since then, winning 3-1 back-to-back against Aarhus to book their place in the Europa League Group stages and also winning their next league matches 7-0, 2-1, 3-0 and 4-0; they’re in pretty good shape right now.
So when they host Gil Vicente at the weekend, they should be good for at least three goals. They’ve scored three or more in five of their last six this season, and in their last four at home to Gil Vicente, they won 3-1, 3-0, 5-0 and 2-1, so they really should get to those three goals.
- Bet: Over 2.5 Home Goals
- Odds: 1.83 (at the time of writing)
Did You Know?
Only five different teams have ever won the Portuguese top league. Benfica (38 times), FC Porto (31), Sporting Lisbon (21), in addition to Belenenses and Boavista, who each have won it just once.
Benfica keeper Trubin chose a good time to score as a goalkeeper when netting against Real Madrid to secure Benfica a place in the Champions League Playoffs last year and plenty of prize money that went with it. In over 220 career appearances, it remains his first, and only, goal to date.
