Benfica - Sporting Preview

The fourth round of the Liga Sagres brings Benfica their first derby at home against Sporting. After playing the first "Classico" 2 rounds ago, Benfica gets their first round matches against their most direct rivals out of the way after the 4th round.
Sporting comes into the Estadio da Luz unbeaten and in first(tied with Nacional), and look to extend their 4 point lead over Benfica. On the flipside, Benfica, currenlty 7th, looks to shorten the lead and position themselves in the top positions of the Liga Sagres.


For the Derby, Quique called on the following players:

Keepers: Moreira and Quim;
Defenders: Léo, Maxi Pereira, Sidnei, Jorge Ribeiro and Miguel Vítor;
Midfielders: Aimar, Katsouranis, Binya, Carlos Martins, Di María, Reyes, Rúben Amorim and Yebda;
Forwards: Cardozo, Nuno Gomes and Makukula.

Katsouranis makes his return to the game roster after having served a one game ban for a double yellow picked up against Porto. Luisao, who was sanctioned with a 3 game ban, is not available as he sits out the second game of his three game suspension. David Luiz, continues to undergo a recovery program and is still not able to give his contribute to the team.
In midfield, Balboa was left out to give way to Katsouranis, and Fellipe Bastos continues not to be an option for Quique. Urreta who was part of the game roster against P.Ferreira, but ended up not dressing, will also sit out this one. No news when it comes to the forward sector, Suazo is hurt, and Mantorras, well Mantorras is Mantorras.

Looking at the game roster, this is what i am anticipating as the starting 11.

Quim in goal, Maxi and Leo on the sides of the defense.
In the middle of the defense, Katsouranis should partner up with Sidnei, who, after this game, will be the center back with the most minutes logged in. In the midfield, Quique shouldn't mess with the Yebda/Martins tandem, and the left side currently belongs to Reyes.
The right side presents the biggest question mark, but Amorim should be the one chosen. As i have written here before, Amorim brings an element of balance to the midfield, as his playing style is a lot more contained offensively then DiMaria or Urreta. Amorim also brings defensive consistency to the midfield. The other option is dropping Aimar into the right and bet on Nuno Gomes in a supporting role to Cardozo. I don't think that is too far fetched, but it would require for Aimar and Martins to be in complete sync, and they just haven't played enough together. But imagine the possibilities, if those two players could play the the right side and middle interchangeably during a game, something for the future perhaps.
Cardozo will be back up front.

Tough game, as all games, but a perfect chance for Benfica to assert themselves at home, and to get back into the top of the table.
A derby is always a game that doesn't follow trends, even so, this early in the season I can't say that one team has more of an edge than other, form wise, regardless of Sporting's unbeaten streak.
What I can say for sure, is that playing at home before a packed house full of their fans, Benfica has the edge, and needs to assume themselves as favorites.
Posession and high pass completion percentage should give Benfica a good chance of winning this game. Nothing to it, Benfica should win this game.


As you may have read in one of my posts the game will not be televised to the North American Continent