SL Benfica vs CD Santa Clara: Preview, Odds, Form Guide and Players to Watch (September 12)

When Benfica plays Santa Clara on Friday night at the Estádio da Luz, they will want to get back to the top of the table. After securing their place in the UEFA Champions League 36-team league stage, manager Bruno Lage will now turn his attention to the Primeira Liga, a competition that Benfica haven’t been able to conquer since 2023. Following a 2-1 away win at Alverca in the previous round, the Eagles will look to continue their perfect start to the 2025-26 campaign, and make it 12 points from their first four matches.
Standing in the way of Benfica and a place atop the league table is a talented and hungry Santa Clara side that showed glimpses of brilliance last season. Vasco Matos’ team are well organised on the defensive end, and are more than capable of pulling off the occasional upset. Although they have been inconsistent to start the 2025-26 campaign, a 1-0 victory against Estoril Praia last weekend gave the Azores side their first league win and should instil some confidence in this young group.
Preview
At the Estádio da Luz, the two teams last played in the league. Kerem Aktürkolu, Florentino Lus, António Silva, and Angel Di Mara all scored for Benfica, who won comfortably 4-1. This, however, is a very different Benfica side. Three of those four scorers have now left the club. Orkun Kökçü, Arthur Cabral and Álvaro Carreras were some of the other high-profile names that moved on this summer, forcing Lage to turn to a new crop of players.
Going into the season, there were questions concerning the new-look midfield partnership of Richard Ríos and Enzo Barrenechea. The South American combo was thrown into the two central midfield roles but have been fantastic over the early stretch, collaborating well in the centre of the park. Rios was arguably the team’s best performer during their CL clash against Fenerbahçe. He is strong, physical and technically gifted, and the 25-year-old could turn out to be one of the league’s most complete midfielders by the end of the season.
Franjo Ivanović is another highly rated player the club have high hopes for. The newly signed striker already has two goals to his name over seven appearances, and could be a key figure as Benfica look to challenge on multiple fronts.
Former RB Salzburg full-back Amar Dedic has also fit into the starting 11 well, producing some stellar displays. Unfortunately, Benfica will be without the right-back after he picked up a red card in his last outing against Alverca.
Benfica are off to a strong start in the league with early wins over Estrela Amadora, Tondela and Alverca and have scored six goals along the way. Santa Clara, though, will likely provide their first real test in the league.
Lage’s side have been constructed on a sturdy defense, with Argentinian world cup winner Nicolás Otamendi leading the line. Antonio Silva, one of Portugal's brightest young talents who has consistently performed well for the team, is likely to accompany him. Benfica has only given up one goal in eight games this season in three different competitions. It has been a shaky start to the campaign for Santa Clara. The islanders have already gone through a gruelling fixture list, competing in 10 total matches in the Conference League qualifiers and the Primera Liga. Santa Clara were knocked out of the Conference League by Shamrock Rovers last month, and will now look to climb back up the table with a tricky run of games that includes Benfica, Alverca and Tondela over the coming weeks.
The one positive for the visitors is that they are coming off a solid performance against Estoril last weekend. When the referee blew the full-time whistle on Saturday at the