Our prediction for this Portugal Primeira Liga match:
Benfica
Match Time & Date:
05/02/2021
02:00 PM
Prediction: 2-1
Guimaraes
Benfica will be aiming to make amends for a heart-breaking loss to Sporting CP in the Lisbon derby when they face Guimaraes in the Primeira Liga round 17. The Eagles are determined to keep their title hopes alive, and this has to go down as a must-win game for Jorge Jesus’ troops. Everton remains quarantined, while Almeida and Jardel miss the match with injury. You should bear in mind that Benfica are eyeing their seventh home win of the season.
Guimaraes, on the other hand, aim to extend their winning run to four games. The visitors have been in a splendid form of late, but given the importance of Friday’s match for the hosts, we predict that Joao Henriques’ troops are going to return home empty-handed. In their last encounter in the Portuguese capital Benfica recorded a 2-0 win over Guimaraes.
Highlighted Player (Jan Vertonghen):
After spending four years at Ajax, in 2006 Jan Vertonghen signed a loan deal with RKC Waalwijk. The left-footed defender spent one season at Mandemakers Stadion and he returned to Ajax for the 2007/2008 season. The highly rated footballer, who is capable of playing as both centre back and left back, signed a deal with Tottenham Hotspur on 8 July, 2012 and he has been playing for the Premier League outfit ever since.
The Belgian defender scored four goals for the Spurs in the 2012/2013 Premier League season and he made 34 league appearances for the White Hart Lane outfit back then. In the 2015/2016 season Jan Vertonghen and his teammates were producing brilliant displays with Tottenham, but the Spurs eventually finished the campaign in third place in the standings.
Speaking of his international career, Vertonghen made it to both World Cup (2014) and Euro (2016) quarter-finals with the Belgian national team. Jan was born on 24 April, 1987 and his shirt number is 5.
Highlighted Team (Guimaraes):
Vitoria Guimaraes have always been in the shadow of famous Portuguese sides Porto, Benfica and Sporting, but over the years they have established themselves as a top-table side in the Primeira Liga. Os Vimaranenses did well to win Taca de Portugal in the 2012/2013 season, wi the team beating Benfica in the final of the domestic cup.
Vitoria Guimaraes finished the 2016/2017 Primeira Liga campaign in fourth place in the standings and, as a result, they booked their place in the Europa League qualifiers. The Portuguese side will face the likes of Salzburg, Konyaspor and Olympic Marseille in Group I and they are seen as underdogs in their group. Vitoria Guimaraes welcome their rivals at Estadio D. Alfonso Henriques and the venue can hold up to 30.000 spectators.
Os Vimaranenses play their home games in white shirts and white shorts, whilst they wear black when playing on the road. Their neighbours Braga are considered Guimaraes’ fiercest rivals and the two teams face each other in the derby of Minho Province.
