Liga Betclic: Sporting-Benfica X-ray

Benfica visits the Estádio José Alvalade at 8:30 pm this Saturday, April 6, for the derby against Sporting on matchday 28 of the Liga Betclic. This will be the 90th time that the two Lisbon rivals have met in the league.

The record points to an advantage for Benfica, who have 34 wins and 22 draws. The Reds' superiority as visitors is reflected in the last 10 derbies played at the home of the Lions in the competition: four wins and five draws.

This season (2023/24), the two teams have already met on three previous occasions. In the Liga Betclic (matchday 11), the Glorioso won by 2-1 in the 1reverse fixture, with an epic comeback that saw goals from João Neves and Tengstedt in the final stretch.

First and second in the Liga Betclic, Sporting and Benfica are two of the teams with the highest percentage of possession among those competing in the competition (58.5% and 58.4% respectively) and often appear in the top positions of the various parameters analyzed by the Wyscout platform.

With 61 goals to their name, Roger Schmidt's side will face an opponent with the best attack in the league (77 goals) and who have scored in every game they have played in the competition. These figures illustrate the greater efficiency of the lions compared to the eagles, who have more shots (432 against 402) and a higher percentage of shots on target (42.6% against 42.3%).

In terms of passing, the figures illustrate a similar strategic trend for both teams. With 14,901 attempts, Benfica leads this particular ranking, closely followed by Sporting, with 13,324. In terms of passing efficiency, the two teams repeat the same positions, with 86.6% for the eagles and 86.4% for the lions

The patient and well-worked build-up to the game means that the two teams are the ones that make the most passes in the final third, with a further advantage for the Reds (79% accuracy against 74.6%), and the ones that make the least use of long passes among the 18 teams competing in the Liga Betclic: 1036 for Benfica and 976 for Sporting.

The recognized individual talent of the players also comes into play in the derby, with the eagles holding the status of the team that makes the most use of dribbling, slightly ahead of the lions (898 against 891).

When it comes to finishing, Rafa is Benfica's top scorer in the Liga Betclic, with 12 shots, followed by Di María (8). On the Green and Whites' side, Gyökeres stands out with 22 goals.

In the assists ranking, Rafa is the player with the most passes for goals in the competition (11), closely followed by Neres (8) for the Reds. As for their rivals, Pedro Gonçalves (10) and Gyökeres (9) stand out.

Defensively, Benfica go into matchday 28 of the Liga Betclic with 21 goals conceded, compared to Sporting's 26. However, the green and whites have a slight advantage over the reds in defensive duels (61.7% against 60.3%) and in aerial duels won (48.9% against 44.9%).

In the last match for the Liga Betclic (matchday 27), in which Benfica beat Chaves by 1-0, Roger Schmidt launched a starting an eleven made up of Trubin, Bah, Tomás Araújo, Otamendi, Aursnes, Florentino, João Neves, Di María, Neres, Rafa and Arthur Cabral.

For his part, Rúben Amorim used a 3x4x3 with Israel, St. Juste, Diomande, Matheus Reis, Geny, Morita, Daniel Bragança, Nuno Santos, Trincão, Gyökeres and Paulinho in Sporting's 1-2 win over Estrela da Amadora.