Who replaces Dedic? José Mourinho makes his call ahead of Benfica v Arouca | OneFootball

Benfica hosts Arouca this Saturday, October 25th, in a match for the ninth round of the Liga Portugal Betclic. José Mourinho still has some decisions to make before the kickoff, as there are significant absences in the team.

The first - and most urgent - problem to solve is the absence of Amar Dedic. The Bosnian right-back has been one of the team's standout players at the start of the season, but he got injured in the last match against Newcastle and will miss the game against Arouca.

For Dedic's position, José Mourinho is considering two options: Tomás Araújo and Fredrik Aursnes. This is because the only natural right-back, Leandro Santos, is with the B team under Nelson Veríssimo's orders. Therefore, the coach might adapt the Portuguese center-back or the Norwegian winger to the right side of the defense.

Another uncertainty in the Benfica team concerns Gianluca Prestianni. The Argentine winger was away from Benfica for about a month while playing in the U-20 World Cup with his national team, which he ended up winning.

Prestianni is back at Benfica, and José Mourinho confirmed he would play against Arouca. It remains to be seen whether the coach plans to start the Argentine winger, or if he is considering him as an option from the bench.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.