Preview: Vitoria de Guimaraes vs. Benfica - prediction, team news, lineups

Vitoria de Guimaraes will be looking to carry on the momentum from their midweek Taca de Portugal win when they welcome Benfica to the Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques on Saturday.

The visitors head into the game as the only side yet to drop points in the Primeira Liga this season, and will be seeking to keep the juggernaut rolling.

Match preview

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Vitoria de Guimaraes failed to return to winning ways in the league last Saturday when they blew a two-goal lead to play out a 2-2 draw against Arouca.

After Ricardo Quaresma and Tiago Silva put Os Vimaranenses two goals up, they failed to protect their lead as substitutes Oday Dabagh and Pite scored in the final 15 minutes of the game to hand the Arouquenses a share of the spoils.

That was followed by a 2-0 victory away to second tier Covilha three days later when they locked horns in the Group A of the Taca da Liga.

In that encounter, French midfielder Nicolas Janvier put on a headline-grabbing performance as he struck twice inside the first 30 minutes to hand Pepa's men all three points.

Vitoria, who are unbeaten in each of their last six outings across all competitions, now face the stern test of going against a high-flying Benfica side who are unbeaten in the last 20 meetings between the sides since 2013.

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Benfica, on the other hand, maintained their 100% record in the division last Monday when they claimed a 3-1 win over Boavista at the Estadio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica.

In an end-to-end affair between the sides, Gustavo Sauer cancelled out Darwin Nunez's opener in the 32nd minute, but Julian Weigl restored Jorge Jesus's side's lead two minutes later before Nunez made sure of the result on the hour mark with his second goal of the game.

Prior to that, As Aguias played out an uneventful goalless draw against Ukrainian outfit Dynamo Kiev when they faced off in the Champions League Group E opener last Tuesday.

Benfica, who are seeking to unseat reigning champions Sporting Lisbon, have kicked off their title challenge on the front foot as they currently lead the way in the Primeira Liga table with a four-point cushion on second-placed Porto.

Team News

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Vitoria de Guimaraes will take to the pitch without the services of Tomas Handel, who picked up an injury in the game against Arouca last Saturday.

Twenty-four-year-old Alfa Semedo continues to serve his suspension after picking up a straight red in the game against Belenenses two Sundays ago, while Croatian defender Toni Borevkovic is expected to return to the fold after serving his one-match suspension.

Meanwhile, Harris Seferovic has been unable to feature for As Aguias since sustaining an injury while on international duty with Switzerland, and is ruled out of this weekend's game.

Serbian midfielder Nemanja Radonjic is also out of contention after missing the game against Boavista last time out through a muscle injury he sustained against Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League.

Andre Almeida will also play no part in this game due to personal reasons, while we expect Nunez to lead the attack for the fourth game running after taking his goal tally to four with a brace last time out.

Vitoria de Guimaraes possible starting lineup:
Varela; Sacko, Mumin, Fernandes, Soares; Almeida, Handel, Andre; Rochinha, Estupinan, Quaresma

Benfica possible starting lineup:
Vlachodimos; Otamendi, Vertonghen, Morato; Lazaro, Mario, Weigl, Grimaldo; Pizzi, Yaremchuk, Nunez

We say: Vitoria de Guimaraes 0-2 Benfica

While Vitoria will be looking to move into the top half of the table, they face the uphill task of going against Benfica, who they have failed to taste victory against since 2013.

Given the gulf in quality between the two sides, we predict Jorge Jesus's side will comfortably claim all three points.