Benfica Lisbon vs SC Braga Prediction & Betting Tips - Taca de Portugal

Prediction published on 10/01/2024, 07:33  by Devesh Jaganath in Football Predictions

The Round of 16 in the Taca de Portugal will see Benfica play host to Braga on Wednesday evening. These two sides met in the quarter-final of the competition last season and Braga emerged as the winners on penalties after the match ended 1-1. Braga went on to reach the final of the competition but were beaten by Porto 2-0. The Arsenalists come into this match following a disappointing 1-1 draw at home to Vitoria Guimaraes over the weekend. While that result did take their recent record to three matches unbeaten, it also saw the gap to the league leaders Sporting widen to seven points. Braga are currently in fourth place in the league standings and are also still alive in the Taca da Liga. On the road, the visitors have been very good of late, winning each of their last three league games and unbeaten in their last five. However, they were beaten in their last two meetings by this opponent and are the underdogs in this one. 

Meanwhile, Benfica head into this match with all the momentum they could hope for. The Eagles breezed past Arouca 3-0 over the weekend to register their fifth consecutive win in all competitions, while they are now unbeaten in their last ten matches. During that run, the host also overcame this opponent 1-0 on the road. In league terms, Benfica have only lost one match this season, which was in gameweek one, and since then, they have rattled off 12 wins and three draws. At home, Benfica are yet to lose a league match this season, posting a record of five wins and two draws in seven matches at Estadio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica. Notably, the defending champions currently possess the league’s out-and-out best defensive record, with just ten goals conceded in 16 league games this season. They are heavily fancied to progress to the next round.