Game Preview: Benfica vs. Porto - Portuguese Liga - 12/01/2014

The Portuguese Liga 'Classico' is to take place on Sunday, January 12th, 2014 at Estadio da Luz in Lisbon. The participants are the long time rivals Benfica and Porto, who along with Sporting Lisbon, are at the top of the tables with 33 points each after fourteen matches played.

Benfica are going into this game riding a string of victories across all competitions. Most recently, in the fifth round of the Portuguese cup, Benfica beat Gil Vicente 5-0, while in the league, they were most recently better than Vitoria Setubal 0-2 and Olhanense 2-3. Benfica also finished their UEFA Champions League season strong, with two victories over Anderlecht 2-3 and PSG 2-1. Even though they finished their group even on points with second place Olympiakos, Benfica ended in third place and will continue their European journey in the Europa League.

Porto are also going into this game amped following a huge 6-0 cup victory vs. Atletico CP. They won their last three league games as well vs. Braga 2-0, Rio Ave 1-3 and most recently Olhanense 4-0. Just like Benfica, Porto will be heading into the Europa League after finishing third in their respective UEFA Champions League group, which featured Atletico Madrid, Zenit St Petersburg and Austria Vienna.

The odds for the upcoming game in Lisbon are as follows:

Benfica: 11/8
Draw: 9/4
Porto: 2/1

The hosts are the favourites to win. A 100 € bet on Benfica could return 137 € in profit. The same bet on Porto could return 200 € in profit.

The most likely score, according to the odds, is a 1-1 draw offered at 5/1.

FC Porto's Jackson Martinez is the favourite to score on Sunday at 6/5, while Oscar Cardozo is the favourite to score for the hosts at 13/10.

Benfica have not beaten Porto in the Portuguese Liga since the 2009/10 season. Last year at Estadio da Luz, the score was 2-2, while Porto won the crucial home match in the second to last round at home with the score of 2-1. This victory earned Porto the 2012/13 title.

As the odds would suggest, this should be a close match.

The kick-off is at 17:00CET.

Enjoy the game!