Benfica - Leixoes Preview

After a less than quiet week in the Benfica camp , Benfica starts up the second round of the Bwin hosting Leixoes. Leixoes is currently 14th in the Bwin with 15 points, coming from 2 wins, 9 ties and 4 losses. Leixoes tied Benfica in the first match of the season, a match that dictated the sacking of Fernando Santos. It'll be a much
different game than the game from the first half of the season, but nonetheless a difficult game for Benfica, as all small teams will put in the extra effort to beat Benfica. Benfica will be playing their first home game of the year, after week of much speculation on the teams unity, much of the fans will be looking to see how the team responds after Saturday's fiasco. Both Nuno Gomes and Rui Costa spoke to the media this week and stated that the situation is done and over with, and the team is as close as it could be and they have moved on.


Camacho has called the following players:

Keepers:Butt and Quim;
Defenders: Luís Filipe, Luisão, Léo, Nelson, Edcarlos and David Luiz;
Midfielders: Petit, Maxi Pereira, Rui Costa, Di Maria, Nuno Assis and Cristian Rodriguez;
Forwards: Nuno Gomes, Mantorras, Adu and Cardozo

Katsouranis is the notable absence, as he is currently suspended by the club. Binya as been officially selected to represent Cameroon in the Can 08, and will be away for most of the month of January and some of February.
Making their way back into the game roster are Leo and Nuno Gomes. Leo was suffering from a cold and did not suit up last weekend, while Nuno Gomes seems to have made a full recovery from his abdominal injury.
Christian Rodriguez who had to be subbed in the 30th minute of last Saturday's game due to a hamstring injury was doubtful all week but seems to have recovered to make the game roster.

Looking at the list of players selected, you can make a quick observation.
Petit is the only true defensive midfielder, being that that Camacho heavily favors the 4-2-3-1, it is almost certain that Camacho will change his tactical formation to a 4-4-2. Although, Benfica usually plays with 2 forwards against weaker teams, it's almost certain that the 4-4-2 will be in full effect, much to the delight of many. But then again, Maxi can play d-mid, but it's highly unlikely, and if Maxi played defensive mid i would lose all respect for Camacho.

So with that being said, here's my projected starting 11:

Quim in goal, Nelson, Luisao, David Luiz and Leo, will round out the back four. Petit will be in front of the defense while Rui Costa will be playing in the position he was born to play, playmaker. On the wings, Maxi will be on the right, while on the left Camacho can go with either Rodriguez or DiMaria; Rodriguez if Camacho feels he has totally recuperated, DiMaria to play it safe. Up front it will be Nuno Gomes supporting Cardozo.

Camacho will continue to play Maxi on the right, despite his lack of speed or vocation to play the wing position, but this time Camacho has the argument of playing in a formation that is not so dependent on its wingers. Maxi can also help out in the midfield.

Look for Adu to come off the bench, Freddy has not played in sometime and i would be surprised if he doesn't get a few minutes in.

Not such a hard game for Benfica, from a competitive stand point, the real challenge is how the team will emerge from a week of controversy and speculation from the media. Katsouranis' current suspension and supposed exit talk by the media, rumors of all not being well within the club. It's been everything but smooth sailing for Benfica this week, the team's performance will be a true tell tale sign of how things are going, and if they have moved past last week's show of possible implosion, with the incident on the field and then falling apart at the end giving up the tying goal in the closing minutes of the game.

Benfica needs to get back on the winning track, Porto has a tough game against Braga and Benfica needs to pick up the tree points in the event Porto should slip.

3-0 Benfica

this is how it was in the first round:
click on the image to expand



Game Highlights here