Our prediction for this Portugal Primeira Liga match:
Estadio Municipal de Portimao will host Saturday’s football game between Portimonense and Benfica. O Portimao have drawn each of their last four league fixtures, but they will have a mountain to climb against the Eagles. All Lazaar, Matos, and Sa are sidelined with injuries, but there are no suspended players in the home team ahead of the visit of Benfica. The Eagles, on the other hand, produced a brilliant display in a 3-0 win over Guimaraes, but that is not going to help them regain the trophy.
Benfica’s main goal is to secure a top-two finish, and seeing that they are four points behind second-place Sporting, this has to go down as yet another must-win game for the capital club. A man to watch in the away team will be Nunez, who scored a brace at the weekend, and he should help the visitors pick up all three points from the match. Both Otamendi and Weigl are back from suspension.
Highlighted Player (Achraf Lazaar):
Achraf Lazaar was born in Casablanca, Morocco on January 22, 1992, but he moved to Italy with his parents in 2003. The left-footed footballer began his youth career at Raja Casablanca and he joined Varese’s youth academy in 2009.
Lazaar made his debut for the senior team in 2012. He made 37 league appearances for Varese, but he did not find the net during his spell at the Stadio Franco Ossola outfit. In January 2014 he signed a contract with Palermo and he has been playing for the Sicilian outfit ever since.Lazaar plays as a left back, but he is capable of producing fine displays as a left back as well. Seeing that he was unable to play for Italy, the Palermo footballer decided to represent Morocco on the international stage. He made his Morocco debut on 23 may, 2014 in a friendly against Mozambique. Morocco recorded a routine 4-0 win over Mozambique back then. Achraf Lazaar has a contract with Palermo which expires on 30 June, 2017.
Highlighted Team (Benfica):
Member of the ‘Big Three’ clubs in Portugal alongside FC Porto and CP Sporting, Sport Lisboa e Benfica are the football club that has never been relegated from the Primeira Liga. The club is nicknamed Aguias because of the Eagle symbol atop the club’s crest. Benfica play their home games at the Estadio da Luz which replaced the original one in 2003 and which boasts the capacity of more than 64,000. Arguably the most successful club in Portugal, Benfica have won a record of 35 Primeira Liga titles and also a record 25 Taca de Liga and 7 Taca da Liga trophies.
Two-time European Cup winners, Benfica are the club known for their diligent work with youth players, many of which went on to make great careers abroad. The most prominent players to wear a Benfica shirt are legendary Eusebio, Manuel Bento, Jorge Tavares and most recently Javier Saviola, Nuno Gomes, David Luiz and Angel Di Maria.