Liga Betclic: Benfica-Farense X-ray

This Wednesday, April 2, Benfica returns home to face Farense at 8:15 pm on matchday 27 of the Liga Betclic.

The team coached by Bruno Lage arrives at the Estádio da Luz on 62 points and looking to extend their run of 7 consecutive league wins to return to the top of the table. With 17 points, the team from Algarve occupy a place in the relegation zone and approach round 27 on the back of 11 consecutive matches without a win in the competition: their last victory came on December 21, 2024. Since then, they have recorded 5 draws and 6 defeats.

At the Cathedral, Benfica have won 12 of their 13 games and are the team with the most points at home (36) in this edition of the Liga Betclic. Farense, on the other hand, have taken more points away from home than as hosts (10 against 7). As hosts on matchday 10 at the Estádio Algarve, they were beaten 1-2 by the Eagles, with Álvaro Carreras and Pavlidis scoring the goals for the Benfica team.

Looking at their record, the Reds' superiority is overwhelming, especially as hosts: they have 21 wins (84%) in 25 matches, with a balance of 73 goals scored and 16 conceded.

The figures provided by the Sofascore platform help explain the gap between the two teams in the Liga Betclic standings. With 17.3 shots per 90 minutes (7.1 on target), Benfica have one of the best attacks in the competition with 62 goals scored (2.4 per game), 45 more than Farense's 17, who have 11.5 shots per game (3.2 on target).

For their part, the Reds' 59.6% of possession illustrates their tendency to dominate their matches, while the team from Faro, with 39.8%, are one of the teams in the league that give their opponents the most initiative.

The parameters of passing efficiency per game (85.2% compared to 72.4%) and dribbles per match (9.5 compared to 6.8) underline Benfica's greater attacking prowess compared to their opponents.

With 20 goals conceded compared to Farense's 37, the Reds go into the game on Wednesday, April 2, as the best defense among the 18 teams competing in the Championship, and also with 13 clean sheets compared to 5 for their opponents.

Leaders of the competition in tackles (18.8) and ball recoveries per game (54.2), the Eagles also stand out in duels, outscoring their opponents in the percentage of duels won per game (52% against 47.8%) and aerial duels won per game (56.9% against 47.2%).

With 10 goals to his name, Pavlidis is the Eagles' top scorer in the competition, while Bruma stands out in terms of assists, with 7, and also in the number of big chances created (14) and dribbles made per game (2.5). Florentino leads the Reds in tackles per game (3.1) and Otamendi in interceptions (1.9).

On the Algarve side, Tomané is the top scorer, with 3 goals, and Marco Matias is the best assistant, with 3 decisive passes. In defensive terms, Cláudio Falcão tops the Liga Betclic for tackles among players with at least 50% of their appearances in the competition, with 3.42 per game.