Marco Silva ‘to make major changes’ for Benfica v Hearts | OneFootball

Benfica host Hearts on Thursday in the first leg of the Europa League third qualifying round, and Marco Silva is expected to alter the side that beat St. Gallen. With the calendar tightening, he is preparing several changes at the Estádio da Luz.

According to Record, the standout switch could be the inclusion of Gianluca Prestianni, finally available for official selection this season after serving a two-game ban carried over from last term. The 20-year-old Argentine winger is being lined up for a first start of 2026/27.

Tomás Araújo is expected to return to fill the vacancy left by António Silva, who has joined Bournemouth. Richard Ríos and Andreas Schjelderup are also among those who could come into the line-up.

Several players are in better physical shape than they were against St. Gallen after an extra week of work, and any starting calls will be taken closer to kick-off.

Benfica now face a run of matches every three days, demanding careful rotation. Silva plans to use fresher legs and phase in those who reported back later from the summer break to keep the side competitive at the start of the season.

Source: Glorioso 1904

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”