Sporting Lisbon vs Benfica Lisbon Prediction & Betting Tips - Taca de Portugal

Prediction published on 29/02/2024, 08:45  by Daniel Ngulu | Modified on 29/02/2024 at 09:15 in Football Predictions

Benfica and Sporting Lisbon will put aside their league title ambitions to focus on the Portuguese Cup encounter next. This will be the first leg of their semi final meetings with hosts Sporting seeking a home advantage. Sporting didn’t have a winning return after their Europa League outing, drawing 3-3 with Rio Ave in their last game. It was their second straight draw after being held 1-1 by Young Boys in the Europa League. Leões will however be happy at the fightback against Rio Ave, twice having to come from behind. It was Sebastian Coates’ 73rd minute goal that earned them a point and they’ll want to do better here. Sporting are however unbeaten in seven matches, winning five, and will be confident here. The one challenge they will be dealing with here is that in the last four meetings, they’ve failed to beat Benfica. Their first encounter this season ended in a 2-1 away loss in the league. That was the third straight time this fixture ended with over 2.5 goals. three of their last five matches have also produced over 2.5 goals.

Benfica will feel this is a key game for them, having handled the pressure well in the league. Unlike Sporting, As Águias had a winning return to domestic action after their 0-0 draw with Toulouse in Europa League. They thrashed Portimonense 4-0 last time out, not only keeping a second straight clean sheet but also going eight unbeaten. Rafael Alexandre’s brace in the win marked his third and fourth goals in the last five matches. This was also the fourth time in five that their matches yielded over 2.5 goals. Benfica’s only defeat in the last 22 matches came via post-match penalties following a 1-1 draw with Estoril in the League Cup. With seven wins in their last 10 matches, Benfica will feel confident about this outing. Their recent run against Sporting will add to this confidence, and they’ve also lost once only in their last four visits here. Four times in their last eight matches, Benfica have scored three or more goals.