Occupying the second position at the end of the week, Benfica have drifted 10 places in front of Estoril Praia in the Primeira Liga table before the gameweek 15 and on Monday they will welcome Estoril Praia to the Estadio da Luz.
Bruno Lage’s men now lie third on the form table at equidistance with Porto having accumulated 13 points from the fifteen matches and could even replace The Jockey club after the ongoing round.
However, misfortunes in Lisbon after Lage resumed the role in September when Roger Schmidt was sacked has given Benfica and Porto a shot at the Liga title.
Different José Alvalade results have been affected by Ruben Amorim’s transfer to Manchester United and this team is presently imitating poor result of the past; a confirmation of four successive losses across all the championships (two in the championship) under Joao Pereira.
Despite making hard attempts to break a three-game losing streak in the league matches and a 3-2 victory of Boavista in round 14, Sporting has kept Lage’s Benfica at one point distance from the Lions that could make the Reds to surpass the latter’s spot prior to the 15th gameweek.
Getting to that situation depends on the first placed club losing points when they host Gil Vicente because the Monday match is against Estoril.
Benfiquistas must feel hopeful of their side prevailing if Sporting stumble upon misfortune, more so with the second-placed team recordless since their 2-0 upset at the hands of Famalicao, while the Reds have boasted an invincible record at home all campaign.
That has been compounded by previous encounters between the two sides which has put Ian Cathro’s side as the underdogs for the upcoming match.
While Estoril got the best of their Lisbon counterparts 4-3 on penalties in January’s League Cup tournament, the Canaries have not triumphed against any district rival anywhere in the 1990s to date and beyond, further putting the away side on the back foot.
In the thirty-two games since 1991, Estorilistas have lost twenty-five and held the Reds to six draws.
If the away team's odds are already diminished by that historical precedence, Estoril's lack of away Liga victories since November 2023 further reduces their chances.
Even though the Canaries only won 1-0 at Porto, subsequent results have shown how bad they are away from home, making them an underdog going into Monday's trip to the Stadium of Light.
In the relegation play-off spots, Cathro's team is only three points ahead of Boavista (11 points), so if the third-bottom team defeats AVS on Saturday, Canarinhos will have a nervous gameweek 15.
When Estoril visits, Lage might be without Renato Sanches (muscle) and Tiago Gouveia (shoulder), even if Gianluca Prestianni has just recovered from an ankle ailment.
Angel Di Maria, who scored two goals against Nacional on Thursday, will be evaluated even though his late exit from the 2-0 victory appeared to be a precaution.
Pedro Amaral and Xeka have missed a total of 12 games due to injuries, and it is anticipated that the Estoril duo will miss the trip to Estadio da Luz in round 15.
Despite being the underdog, the Canaries will rely on Wagner Pina, Joao Carvalho, and Alejandro Marques (five goals) to pull off an upset win. Together, the three have scored nine goals this season.
