Guimaraes - Benfica Preview

A very tough game awaits Benfica in Guimaraes, as Benfica will look to continue their climb to the top of the table, after surpassing their direct rivals last weekend.
Guimaraes, who came in third last season, is currently in 7th and still looking for their first Liga Sagres win. They were bounced from the Champions' League qualifying round as well as the UEFA Cup qualifying round, but both of these failures shouldn't provide any indication of a weak team, on the contrary, they have only lost 1 game out of their last five and their only defeat came at the hands of current leader Nacional.
Benfica comes into this clash in 3rd place, with the best offense of the Liga Sagres with 11 goals and the only team yet to experience defeat in domestic play.


For this trip to northern Portugal Quique called on the following players:

Keppers: Quim and Moreira.
Defenders: Luisão, Maxi Pereira, Jorge Ribeiro, Sidnei and Miguel Vítor.
Midfielders: Reyes, Katsouranis, Aimar, Felipe Bastos, Ruben Amorim, Binya, Carlos Martins and Yebda.
Forwards: Cardozo, Uerreta, Nuno Gomes and Suazo

Leo is the most obvious absence of the defensive unit, after losing his spot to Jorge Ribeiro, Leo sees himself not figuring into Quique's game plans, not even as a back up. In the midfield, Aimar makes his return after a month long absence due to injury. Also returning to Quique's options is Fellipe Bastos. DiMaria did not make the list as he suffered an ankle sprain mid-week and despite not figuring in the medical bulletin, Quique has opted to leave the young Argentinean out of the game roster. Urreta will take his spot, as Balboa continues to struggle to make the lot of Quique's options. Up Front, Cardozo, Nuno Gomes, and Suazo will be fighting for 2 spots in the front line, Makukula will stay in Lisbon.

Projected line up should be something close to this:

The back line will suffer no changes. In the midfield is a different story, Yebda and Katsouranis should be back in the middle. Martins who got the start alongside
Yebda against Naval should be watching the game from the bench. The left flank is currently "owned" by Reyes while on the right, Amorim should most likely be Quique's choice. Martins is also an option for the right side. Up front, Suazo should get the nod, while his pair will most likely depend on what Quique's game plan is. Nuno Gomes has been playing well, and seemed to complement Suazo well against Naval. Cardozo came in against Naval and gave Benfica the win. Quite a headache for Quique. Not that Quique seems like a coach who will go with the directives wishes for symbolism sake, but Benfica is currently 2 goals shy of the 5,000 mark, there's nothing that would please the club more than Nuno Gomes being the one who gets the historic goal. I think the choice will come down to Quique's game plan, without two pure wingers I'd bet on Nuno Gomes to get the start. Aimar's start is highly unlikely, but he might see some minutes off the bench.

Benfica comes off a shaky win against Naval, a win that put them ahead of their competition. It's imperative to win this game for Benfica as they will need to go into a midweek game against Galatsaray with positive momentum. It's also important for Benfica to retain their lead over Porto and Sporting.