Benfica kicked off their 2022/23 Primeira Liga season by hosting Arouca, with Brazilian right back Gilberto breaking the deadlock after eight minutes and Rafa Silva doubling the lead in the 42nd minute. Brazilian left back Mateus Quaresma was dismissed shortly after for Arouca as Enzo Fernández added another before the break, with Rafa capping off his brace and securing a 4-0 victory at the Luz.

From those goal scorers, Gilberto has lost his starting spot to summer arrival Alexander Bah, whilst Rafa Silva will be on the sidelines for the next few weeks as he recovers from injury – Enzo Fernández looked likely to depart the club after just six months with Chelsea stirring up interest, but he looks set to remain put in Lisbon for the foreseeable future. The World Cup winner was back at his best at the weekend, stepping up in the absence of key players like Rafa and Nicolás Otamendi and chipping in a brace of assists as Benfica won 3-0 at Santa Clara, before delivering another fine display in midfield alongside Florentino Luís as Benfica defeated Paços de Ferreira 2-0.

Benfica sit seven points clear of Braga in first place and they will be looking to take care of business in Arouca and continue their impressive run of form against the Arouquenses. Apart from a 1-0 loss on August 23, 2015, each of Benfica’s last 11 meetings against Arouca has seen the Eagles come out victorious, with 9 of them (including their last three) seeing Benfica win by two goals or more. Apart from that 0-1 defeat, each of their last 13 fixtures has seen them score at least two goals, and I’m backing this one to be similar. Arouca have enjoyed a stellar start to the campaign and sit sixth in the table, but they have struggled to keep the scoreline down against Portugal’s top opponents – apart from a 1-0 win against Sporting on October 29, they have lost their other five matches against the top four, each seeing at least two goals scored. I’m backing this one to be a high-scoring victory for Roger Schmidt’s side as they look to close out a strong January.