Benfica keeping their title hopes alive
Portugal are about to restart Liga NOS this week and the title race is a mouth-watering prospect. Can Benfica keep the pressure on Porto when the take on struggling Tondela? Have a read of our preview here:
Taking it to the wire
Porto have been the dominant force for some time in Portugal, but Benfica are making an excellent fist of things this season and as things restart, they are only two points behind their title rivals.
Porto play on Tuesday night so assuming they win the margin will have increased to five points meaning Benfica will be under considerable pressure to brush aside Tondela and maintain their push for the title.
Bruno Lage has got his team playing well this season but the two results prior to the pause both ended in 1-1 draws. This meant that The Eagles went into the stoppage behind Porto when they really should have been in front.
In fact, Benfica have only won one of their last five matches in the Liga NOS so the break might have helped them refocus.
This dip came off the back of an extraordinary run of 16 straight league wins, a remarkable achievement and part of the reason they’ve been pushing Porto so hard.
The key men this season have been top scorer Carlos who has netted 15 times in the league and he has been ably backed up by Luis Fernandes or Pizzi as he is known, who himself has 14.
Pizzi, though, takes the plaudits for the number of chances he has created this season. A whooping 51, at least 13 more than his closest Benfica teammate Alex Grimaldo.
This team know they should be leading the table and will fear being labelled as chokers if they let this opportunity slip. Only time will tell if the damage has already been done.
Tondela safe despite struggles
Tondela are minnows. There is no other way to put it. It wasn’t until 2015 that one of Portugal’s big three played at their home ground.
They have not had a spectacular campaign but staying up was most likely the key aim before the campaign kicked off and they have achieved that fairly easily.
Although the season is not over, Natxo Gonzalez’s side have a nine-point gap between themselves and the relegation places which should be enough to see them remain at the top level next season.
Benfica v Tondela betting tip
There can only be one winner here and the odds do reflect that so let’s grab some value by backing to home side to win by a brace. That’s why we are going with Benfica to win by two goals at odds of 4.0 with bet365.
Post bet chat James's Tips:
Benfica's poor run continued as they could only manage a 0-0 draw leaving their title hopes in tatters.