Our prediction for this Portugal League Cup match:
Benfica
Match Time & Date:
30/10/2024
21:15
Prediction: 3-1
Santa Clara
Buoyed by a thrilling 5-0 win over Rio Ave, Benfica will look to give fans yet another reason to celebrate when they take on Santa Clara in the Taca da Liga quarter-finals. Benfica are determined to go all the way in the League Cup and they are likely to go all guns blazing at Santa Clara. A man to watch in the home team will be Kerem Akturkoglu, who scored a hat-trick at the weekend, while all Gianluca Prestianni, Leandro Barreiro, and Tiago Gouveia remain on the sidelines with injuries.
Os Acorianos, on the other hand, have been impressive at home ground of late, but given their negative head-to-head record against Benfica, we predict that the visitors are going to return to Ponta Delgada empty-handed. In their last encounter in Lisbon Benfica rolled over Santa Clara 4-1. Defender Pedro Pacheco should be the only absentee in the visiting team.
Highlighted Player (Angel di Maria):
Angel Di Maria is a professional footballer who played for Argentine side Rosario Central at the start of his senior career. The left-footed winger is very quick on the ball and he often makes life difficult for opposition defenders. After playing for Benfica between 2007 and 2010, the Argentine superstar signed for Real Madrid on 28 June, 2010 for a fee of €25 million + €11 million in bonuses.
Despite impressing with los Blancos in the 2013/2014 La Liga campaign, the club chiefs decided to sell him to Manchester United on 26 August, 2014. Di Maria was playing below expectations at Old Trafford and he scored three goals in 27 league games for the Red Devils.
In 2015 he moved to Paris Saint-Germain and he scored 10 goals in 29 league appearances for les Parisiens in the 2015/2016 Ligue 1 campaign. In 2014 he won the Champions League trophy with Real Madrid and that is considered the biggest success of his career. Angel Di Maria was born in Rosario on 14 February, 1988.
Highlighted Team (Santa Clara):
Santa Clara are a professional football club that compete in the Portuguese Primeira Liga. Os Acoreanos (The Azoreans) play their home games at Estadio de Sao Miguel, the venue which can hold up to 13,277 people.
Estadio de Sao Miguel was built in 1930. Santa Clara are the only team from the Azores Islands to compete in the Primeira Liga. Os Acoreanos are well known for its close connection with famoust Portuguese club Benfica, with the two teams sharing the very same crest until recently.
Santa Clara wear red shirts and white shorts when playing at home ground, whilst white is the dominant colour of their away kit. Os Acoreanos participated in the Intertoto Cup in the 2002/2003 season, with the team beating FC Shirak in round 1 5-3 on aggregate, while suffering a loss to Teplice 2-9 on agg. in round 2. CD Operario from Lagao are considered Santa Clara’s fiercest rivals.
Brighton
Southampton
Barcelona
Las Palmas 
Crystal Palace
Newcastle 
Borussia Dortmund 
Bayern Munich 
West Ham
Arsenal
Chelsea 
Aston Villa 
