- Santa Clara have won 2 and drawn 2 of their 4 home matches across all competitions (1.75 goals scored, 0.50 goals conceded on average).
- SL Benfica have won 3 and lost 1 of their 4 away matches across all competitions, scoring 10 goals in total.
- Santa Clara have failed to win either of their last 2 home matches against Benfica (1 win for the visitors).
Squeeze and break clash at Estadio do Sao Miguel
Santa Clara will be glad to see the back of a tough week in which they drew 0-0 at home with SC Braga, beat Casa Pia 1-0 away and were beaten 3-2 by CD Mafra after extra time in the Taca de Portugal.
The Açorianos are a resilient unit, with Petit moulding them into a compact, pragmatic unit. The hosts have a low to mid block and quick counter punches as their main weapon, but they shouldn't be pushed over on Monday as they are unbeaten at home across all competitions (W2, D2).
Benfica in a rut
SL Benfica lost 3-1 away to rivals FC Porto in their previous round of Primeira Liga fixtures but put together a good response with a 2-0 home victory over Vitoria Guimaraes and a 4-1 routing of Celtic at the Luz.
Marco Silva's men have won 9 and lost just 1 of their last 10 in all competitions, which is a strong title-winning pace, but they will face a real test away to Santa Clara on Monday.
A difficult away fixture for the Eagles
Benfica are 9/25 favourites for this game and the visitors are certainly the most likely winners here, while Santa Clara are big underdogs at 41/5. However, there's value to be had in the away win odds and we think this will be a tough away fixture for the Águias.
We're going for a Benfica win and under 2.5 goals, as Santa Clara are a compact, organized unit while Benfica score plenty of goals.
The match will be a real game of squeeze-and-break with Benfica trying to pin Santa Clara deep and the hosts looking to frustrate Benfica and nick transitions. Benfica have won 2 in a row, so they should be confident in the final third and this could be a classic example of the old adage, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
