FC Porto vs SL Benfica: Preview, Odds, Form Guide and Players to Watch (October 4) | OneFootball

Round 8 of the Portuguese Primeira Liga provides a blockbuster matchup between two of the nation’s most successful clubs. SL Benfica and FC Porto will meet at the Estádio do Dragão on Sunday in the latest edition of O Clássico. It is a game that, although early in the season, will likely have massive implications on the title race.

Porto have set the pace this season with an incredible start. The club invested heavily during the summer, and their newly assembled group seems to be clicking on all cylinders, with plenty of talent, experience and depth in the squad. Francesco Farioli’s side are yet to drop points this season, taking a maximum of 21 from their first seven league matches, and they have matched that perfect start in Europe.

Benfica’s 2025-26 campaign, meanwhile, has not been as smooth as they may have hoped. With the club’s elections nearing, the pressure has been on president Rui Costa to deliver. After a strong start, the Eagles produced a series of lacklustre displays last month. Costa acted decisively to bring in José Mourinho to replace Bruno Lage in a move that shook the landscape of Portuguese football. Mourinho has been thrown into the deep end, and the highly rated manager knows that time is a luxury that is not on his side. The demands are astronomical when taking over a club like Benfica. The performances have been inconsistent so far, but if Mourinho can secure a result against his former club, it should alleviate some of the pressure on his players as the club prepares for a critical stage of the season.

Preview

“I was telling the guys, Chelsea is better than Porto, so if you manage to come here and play this way, we have to be positive,” said Mourinho after Benfica’s narrow 1-0 defeat against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday. The bold statement seemed to irk some of the Porto supporters, adding fuel to an already heated rivalry. Mourinho may have spent two seasons with the northern Portuguese club and led them to a UEFA Champions League crown, but even his former employers are not spared the occasional jab from the master motivator, who is known for bringing out the best from his players under difficult circumstances.

Porto have not won the league title since 2022, but the fact remains that this is one of the most complete Porto sides we have seen since Mourinho left back in 2004. President André Villas-Boas has constructed a powerhouse, bringing in top players from around Europe like Victor Froholdt, Gabri Viega, Alberto Costa, Borja Sainz, Jan Bednarek, Pablo Rosario, Jakub Kiwior, Dominik Prpić and Luuk de Jong to fortify an already talented squad. The investment has paid off, with Porto off to a flying start domestically and in Europe.

Porto have rolled through their opponents with relative ease. The Dragons began their league campaign with a 3-0 victory over Vitória de Guimarães and followed that up with wins over Gil Vicente and Casa Pia. The real test came in round four when Rui Borges’ Sporting welcomed Porto to the José Alvalade Stadium. Porto were able to overcome that obstacle with a 2-1 victory, goals from William Gomes and Luuk de Jong enough to secure all three points. September wins over Nacional, Rio Ave and Arouca places Porto atop the standings with 21 points, three points ahead of Sporting and four ahead of Benfica.

Incredibly, after seven league matches, no player in the Primeira Liga has scored against the Dragons. Farioli’s defence have conceded just once so far over 630 minutes of football, and that was an own goal against Sporting CP. Goalkeeper Diogo Costa, who has played every single minute in the league, has been outstanding over the early stage of the campaign, and Benfica will have to figure out a way to get past the 26-year-old Portuguese international.

Overall, Porto have scored 19 goals in the league. Spanish striker Samu Aghehowa leads the way with five goals, but the goals have come from a variety of avenues. Sainz, Gomes and Pepê have all scored twice, and eight other players have recorded goals in the league this season.

Porto will be without Nehuén Pérez and Luuk de Jong, both out with injuries.

Benfica are still finding their footing since Mourinho took over the club. The results have been mixed, but draws against Santa Clara and Rio Ave, the latter under Mourinho’s reign, means the club are already trailing rivals Sporting and Porto. Benfica have secured 17 points from their first seven matches, scoring 13 goals and conceding four.

“I want to bring new energy,” added Mourinho in his post-match interview after the Chelsea match. The 62-year-old has also pointed out (on numerous occasions) that he has had limited time to train with his players. It is also noteworthy that he has not had a transfer window to bring in any players that suit his system and has inherited this squad from Lage.

While Mourinho has not had the time to fully implement his ideas on the team, there are positives. Like Porto, Benfica have also spent big over the summer, signing Richard Ríos, Enzo Barrenechea, Franjo Ivanović, Amar Dedic, Dodi Lukébakio and Georgiy Sudakov. Barrenechea, Dedic and Sudakov have been the most impactful so far, producing some exceptional performances since joining.

Benfica have looked more organised and energetic since the “Special One” arrived, especially on the defensive end. A solid outing against Chelsea will go a long way to reassure the fans that Mourinho is the right man for the job. Over his four matches in charge, his players have conceded just three goals, one of which was an unfortunate own goal against Chelsea.

On the other end of the pitch, the goals have been coming, but not at the rate the Benfiquistas expect. Over the first seven matches, Benfica have 13, an average of 1.85 per game. That is significantly lower than the 2.47 they averaged in the league last season.

The football has not been fluid and flowing under Mourinho, with Benfica struggling to dominate games. Since appointing the new manager, they have scored six times in four matches, but three of those goals came against lowly AVS.

Vangelis Pavlidis has been the team’s top scorer this year, amassing seven goals in all competitions, five of which have come in the league. Ivanovic is next on the list with three, followed by Fredrik Aursnes, Andreas Schjelderup and Sudakov, who have all netted twice.

Odds

Over 2.5 total goals: 1.87, Under 2.5 goals: 1.65

*All odds provided from Betano.pt. Odds are subject to change prior to kick off.

Form Guide (All Competitions)

Benfica:

Head-to-head Record

The FC Porto-Benfica rivalry has a long history that dates back nearly 100 years. While Benfica is regarded as the most successful club in Portugal based on their trophy tally, Porto have matched them every step of the way on the pitch.

The two clubs have met 257 times over the years in five different competitions. Porto hold the edge in those encounters, winning 102 times (39.7%). Benfica have won 93 games (36.2%) while there have been 62 draws (24.1%).

In the league, Porto have won nearly 40% of the games, winning 72 of the 182 games. Benfica are just under 34%, with 61 wins.

Recently, however, Benfica has held the advantage over their northern rivals, winning four of the last five clashes.

Last season, Benfica comprehensively beat Porto 4-1 at the Estádio da Luz. Unfortunately for the Dragons, it was more of the same when the Eagles visited the Estádio do Dragão in April. A Pavlidis hat-trick saw the Reds take a commanding lead, before a stoppage-time goal from Otamedi capped off another 4-1 victory.

Players to Watch

Pavlidis has been the in-form striker this season, already recording five goals and two assists in the first seven league games. The Greek striker has been the focal point of Mourinho’s attack, which the system set up to feed the ball into the versatile forward who has speed, strength, skill, ball control a powerful strike.

Sudakov, who joined Benfica this summer from Shakhtar Donetsk with a massive reputation, is also expected to play a role on Sunday. The creative midfielder has already scored twice and assisted a goal. Sudakov appears to be a key figure in Mourinho’s lineup. He has also been tasked with taking corners and the majority of the team’s free kicks.

For Porto, Samu has been banging in goals at an incredible rate. Last season, the 21-year-old finished with 19 goals over 30 league matches, and is on pace to surpass that total this year. Over six league games, he has already scored five goals, an average of one every 65 minutes.

Another player to keep a close eye on will be Rodrigo Mora, touted as one of Portugal’s most promising young talents. Mora produced some brilliant highlights after breaking into the first team last year, but has been handed limited minutes over the first month of the season. The 18-year-old has worked his way back into the side and will be looking to make his mark as he looks to break into the World Cup squad next year. Mora made a successfull return to the starting lineup in the team’s midweek fixture against Red Star Belgrade, scoring the winner in the 89th minute to ensure all three points for the Dragons.