Benfica - P. Ferreira Preview

This Sunday, Benfica plays another round of the Portuguese Cup. The game is against P.Ferreira, another team from the Bwin, who is currently next to last in the table. But you can throw that out the window, as the Portuguese cup is often a different competition than the Bwin. For some teams, the Portuguese Cup is often a competition that is taken seriously, as there is a better chance of being Cup winners than League winners per say.

Benfica comes into this game from a bad result and performance against Nacional, they will try to rebound and obtain a good result, as the Portuguese Cup is currently one of the team's remaining objectives.

Game Roster:
Keepers: Butt and Moreira

Defenders:David Luiz, Luís Filipe, Luisão, Nelson, Edcarlos, Léo and Sepsi

Midfielders:Katsouranis, Rui Costa, Maxi Pereira, Cristian Rodríguez, Di Maria and Nuno Assis;

Forwards:Mantorras, Adu, Cardozo and Makukula.


Petit and Nuno Gomes, both hurt, did not make the list. Petit came back from international duty hurt, and Nuno Gomes is out for a minimum of 3 weeks as a result of an injury suffered during the game against Nacional, this past weekend. Also absent is Quim, who will give his place to a less used keeper.
David Luiz returns, fully recuperated. Rui Costa returns from serving a 1 game suspension, and Makukula makes his game Roster debut.

Projected line up:

Moreira in goal. In the back, Nelson, Edcarlos, David Luiz and Leo, from right to left. Katsouranis, Rui Costa, Maxi and Rodriguez will most likely be in the midfield, their positioning will depend on the tactical formation. Up front, Makukula will start, the doubt rests on who will support him if Camacho goes with the 4-4-2 - Mantorras is a serious candidate, as well as DiMaria. If he uses the preferred 4-2-3-1, We will see Maxi drop into d-mid while either Assis or DiMaria will play on the right wing, Freddy Adu should also get significant playing time, although, I highly doubt he will get the start.
Butt played poorly in the last cup game, i wouldn't be surprised if Moreira got the start. In defense, i think Camacho will sit Luisao, as he played this past Wednesday for Brazil. Edcarlos hasn't been playing bad and David Luiz is fully recuperated they will most likely be in the center of defense. The other factor to be considered is the fact that the South American players, and Adu, had long flights back and only got back to training yesterday with the exception of DiMaria, who landed in Portugal last night. How this affects the line up remains to be seen, Cardozo has already been given the rest, as Makukula is the alternative and the Uefa Cup is right around the corner.

If the week on, week off, performance tendency is anything of an indicator, we will see Benfica play well and win convincingly. But that remains to be seen, as most of the players in the starting 11 were involved in matches midweek and fatigue can definitely be a factor. In any case, Benfica needs to come out strong and put this game away quick.