Famalicão and Benfica meet at Estádio Municipal 22 de Junho, in a match for the 1st round of the Primeira Liga. The history of recent direct confrontations is favorable to the visiting team, which registers 2 wins and 2 draws in the last 4 games. The last head-to-head meeting between these two teams, on 07-09-2020, ended with a draw (1‑1).
Famalicão :
This is the first match in this edition of the home team’s competition, which finished the previous edition in 6th position. The team comes to this match after a draw against Marítimo by (3‑3). In the last 10 matches played at home for all competitions, Famalicão won 2, tied 5 and lost 3. The team allowed goals to the opponent in 8 of the last 10 matches, so their defense needs to improve, But their attack has scored regularly, having scored goals in 8 of the last 10 games. In 15 games, they suffered the first goal 7 times and never managed to come back. In the last 18 home matches for all competitions there is 1 period that stands out: they have scored 10 of their 28 goals between minutes (76′ ‑ 90 ‘).
After a sensational campaign in the year back to the first division, the Famalicão team will have a harder time staying so competitive in this 2020/21 edition of the Portuguese league. Despite having managed to keep coach João Pedro Sousa, after an incredibly positive campaign in 2019/20, the team saw almost all of its main figures come out, such as Fábio Martins, Pote, Diogo Gonçalves, Uros Racic, Neuhén Pérez, among several others. The club is trying to rebuild the squad by hiring several players, mostly promising youngsters. Without pre-season games being announced, Famalicão will debut in the new season in a high-stakes match.
Benfica :
This is the first match in this edition of the away team’s competition, which finished the previous edition in 2nd position. The team comes to this match after a away loss against PAOK by (2‑1). In the last 10 away matches for all competitions, Benfica won 3, drew 4 and lost 3. Their attack has scored regularly, as they have always scored at least one goal in the last 10 matches. There is a tendency to have goals in their away matches, since 22 of the last 25 matches they have played have ended with Over 1.5 goals.
Benfica will start their campaign in the championship with the firm aim of regaining the title of national champion, having lost the title to rival FC Porto last season, mainly due to a terrible second half of the league, after a first almost perfect half. Now, with the return of coach Jorge Jesús to the club, he will have to recover, because he just lost, last Tuesday, the possibility of reaching the group stage of the Champions League. In their official debut in 2020/21, Benfica lost 2-1 to PAOK in the third qualifying round of the UEFA millions competition, thus having a very bitter start to the season. This is because, in addition to the sporting importance of reaching the final phase of the Champions League, it was also a financial failure, shortly before the next electoral period in the club’s presidency.
