Benfica Lisbon vs Santa Clara Prediction & Betting Tips - Liga Portugal

Prediction published on 21/06/2020, 07:56  by Daniel Ngulu | Modified on 21/06/2020 at 07:58 in Liga Portugal Predictions

An away win over Rio Ave in midweek ensured Benfica stays top of Primeira Liga and they will be hoping to stay there after their clash with Santa Clara. Benfica have so far amassed 64 points, same to second placed Porto, while Santa Clara are ninth with 35 points. With seven matches to go, Santa Clara can still hope to secure a Europa league slot but it will be tough here, looking at Benfica’s ambitions. Benfica lead on goal difference and will want to cash in on this home game, having struggled a bit after the restart. They resumed with two draws before beating Rio Ave narrowly after coming from a goal down and staging a fine comeback in the second half. An 87th minute goal from Julian Weigl saved the league leaders from a sixth straight draw in all competitions. Now Benfica will hope to turn around their home form, which has seen them go winless in the last four matches. in the last home game, they failed to score against Tondela but kept a first clean sheet in six. They have no win in the last three home league matches. In 14 league matches at home, Benfica have 10 wins.

As for Santa Clara, they remain unbeaten since the league resumed but after reopening with a win over Braga, they have drawn twice. They seem to have defensive challenges, having failed to keep a clean sheet in the three matches. Actually, they have no clean sheet in the last six matches though they have failed to score in just one of their last 10 matches. They needed an 86th minute goal to draw with Vitoria Setubal in their last away match, stretching their winless away run to three. In 13 away matches, they have won just four, which leaves them heavily as underdogs here. They have also never registered a win in 10 matches against Benfica, who have nine wins, with just one ending in a draw.