Benfica Famalicão X-ray Liga Betclic Football

NEXT MATCH

It is at Estádio da Luz that Benfica start the 2nd half of the Liga Betclic 2024/25, hosting Famalicão on matchday 18, this Friday, January 17, at 8:15 pm.

Having won the League Cup, progressed to the quarter-finals of the Portuguese Cup - after a 1-3 win at Farense - and depending solely on themselves to win the 39th national championship in their centenary history, Benfica enter the second half of the competition in 3rd position with 38 points, three off the top.

The Eagles face an opponent who, at the start of the round, is in 9th place, with 20 points, half of which have been clinched as a visitor and where they have a positive balance of 13 goals scored and 11 conceded. In nine matches at the Cathedral, the Reds have won eight times, scoring 27 goals and conceding five.

Benfica and Famalicão have met on 23 occasions in the competition, and the balance is largely in favor of the reds, who have 17 wins (74%) and three draws (13%). With a total of 58 goals scored and 16 conceded, the Eagles have an average of 2.52 goals per game, compared to 0.7 for the team from Minho. On home soil, Benfica have won 10 of the 11 matches played (91%) and drawn one (9%).

Looking at the collective data of the two teams in the competition, Benfica have the best defense in the competition, conceding 11 goals (0.6 goals per game), while "Famalicenses" have conceded 20 (1.2 goals per game). The figures collected on the Sofascore platform show significant differences between the two teams.

Superior in tackles (19.2 compared to 18.2 per game), interceptions (9.1 compared to 8.5 per game) and balls recovered (54.6 compared to 47.6 per game), Benfica's figures are lower in terms of their ambitions and competitive prospects. Famalicão made more tackles per game (19.2 against 10.4) and more saves per match (2.9 against 2.2). In aerial duels, Benfica won 13.9 per game (56.6%), while Famalicão won 17.2 (54.2%). As for duels won on the ground, the "Minhotos" won 41.5 (51.6%), while the Eagles did so an average of 39.5 times per game (49.7%).

Dominant in the passing department, Benfica have, on average, more possession (59.6% against 52.4%), more accurate passes per game (453 and 85.2% against 334 and 80.3% accuracy), more accurate passes in the final third of the pitch (248 and 75, 8% against 141 and 67.4% accuracy), more accurate crosses (6.3 and 26.8% against 3.6 and 21.8% accuracy) and more long balls, with 27.4 (60.5%) compared to Famalicão's 24.2 per game (51.9%).

Offensively, Benfica scored 32 goals inside the penalty area in 174 attempts against 14 goals in 93 attempts by the "Famalicenses". With more big chances per game (3.4 against 1.5), more shots per match (16.5 against 10.8), more shots on target per match (6.2 against 4) and more dribbles per game (9.7 against 8.5), the prominence of the footballing records presented by Bruno Lage's men is equally clear.

In individual terms, Di María and Aktürkoğlu, with six goals each, are Benfica's top scorers in the competition, and the Turkish international leads the way in assists (4). On Famalicão's side, Óscar Aranda stands out with five goals to his name, while Gustavo Sá and Mario González stand out in terms of assists (2).