SL Benfica vs Boavista FC: Preview, Odds, Form Guide and Players to Watch (22 February 2025)

SL Benfica will take on Boavista FC at the Estádio da Luz this week with both sides desperately seeking three points for very different reasons. Saturday’s clash sees two clubs on opposite ends of the table face off. As teams enter the final third of the 2024-25 season, every point will be vital.

With just two points separating Benfica and Sporting CP at the top of the table, the Eagles have the chance to overtake their inter-city rivals for the first time in 2025. Meanwhile, Boavista have failed to secure a point in the league since December, plummeting down the table to find themselves in a relegation scrap for a second consecutive season. 

Preview

Spirits will be high in the Benfica camp after Tuesday’s thrilling 3-3 draw against Monaco that saw the Lisbon club progress to the European Champions League round of 16. In the end, a draw was sufficient to see Benfica move on, but manager Bruno Lage knows his team will have to be better in the coming weeks, especially in the midfield. 

The results have fallen in Benfica’s favor over the last month, with the club securing a perfect nine points from their three Primeira Liga matches in February. That strong run means Lage’s side remain in the top two. Benfica trail Sporting by just two points, but hold an inferior goal difference to the Lions. They have a four-point lead over third-place FC Porto and a six point lead over fourth-place SC Braga. 

Overall, Benfica have accumulated 50 points over 22 league matches, with 16 wins, two draws and four losses.

Benfica’s attack has been menacing this season, with an incredible 19 different players getting on the scoresheet at some point of the season. Over all competitions, As Águias have recorded a whopping 96 goals in 38 games, with 50 of those goals coming in the Primeira Liga. Greek striker Vangelis Pavlidis leads the squad with 16 goals, followed by Angel Di María and Kerem Aktürkoğlu who have recorded 14 and 11, respectively. 

Benfica have done well to remain competitive in all four competitions. Along with their continued success in the Champions League, the club took home the Allianz Cup (Taça da Liga) in January to secure their first trophy of the campaign, and are preparing for a quarter-final match against Braga in the Portuguese Cup. 

It will be interesting to see how Bruno Lage rotates his lineup as he aims to compete on three fronts, especially considering Benfica’s squad has been depleted by injuries. Angel Di María, Alexander Bah, Manu Silva, Renato Sanches, Tiago Gouveia, Florentino Luís are injured for Tuesday’s match. Midfielder Orkun Kökçü left the game against Monaco holding the back of his leg and could also miss out as well. Midfielder Leandro Barreiro is suspended for the fixture.

Boavista FC are reaching a critical stage of the campaign, and will need to turn things around quickly if they hope to have any chance of avoiding relegation. It has been a disappointing season for As Panteras, who sit bottom of the league standings and are currently eight points adrift of safety. A 1-0 home defeat to Estrela Amadora last week leaves the club in desperate need of points as they approach the final 12 games. 

Over 22 league matches, Boavista have amassed just 12 points and won only twice. The club has failed to record a home win all season. 

Boavista parted ways with Italian manager Cristiano Bacci in early February following a dismal run. Veteran manager Lito Vidigal has been brought in to shake things up and will have a monumental task on his hands as he looks to avoid the drop. 

Along with Vidigal, Boavista have signed a handful of new players to strengthen the lineup. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Boavista signed nine players earlier this month in the hopes of salvaging something from the season. Former Chelsea midfielder Marco van Ginkel, former PSG defender Layvin Kurzawa and former Sevilla goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik are some of the key arrivals. Russian center-back Vitalii Lystov, who has plenty of experience in the Portuguese league, was also added, and is expected to play a big role in the coming months. 

Boavista’s thin squad has battled valiantly over the season, but the results have not gone their way. The attack has been particularly poor with the club scoring just 14 goals, the second fewest in the league (SC Farense have scored 13). Róbert Boženík has been isolated in the front throughout most of the season, and has failed to have the same impact he had in the 2023-24 campaign. Midfielder Miguel Reisinho leads the team with four goals, with Boženík right behind him with three goals. 

Boavista also have several injury concerns going into Tuesday’s match at the Estádio da Luz. Tomás Silva, Augusto Dabó, Filipe Ferreira, João Gonçalves and Marco Ribeiro, Luís Pires will not be available due to injuries. 

 

Odds

Benfica 1.11, Boavista 20.00, Draw 9.00

Over 3.5 total goals: 1.75, Under 3.5 goals: 1.75

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

Form Guide (All Competitions)

Benfica: 

 

 Boavista: 

 

Head-to-head Record

Benfica and Boavista have met on 134 occasions in four different competitions over the years. Historically, the Lisbon side have held that advantage in this fixture, winning 79 (58.9%), drawing 34 (25.4%) and losing 21 (15.7%).

In the Primeira Liga, they have faced each other 123 times with Benfica winning 72 games (58.6%), Boavista winning 18 times (14.6%) and 33 draws (26.8%).

In recent seasons, Benfica have dominated the tie, winning four of the last five games and outscoring their northern rivals 13-3 in those matches. The Porto side did manage a memorable 3-2 victory over the Eagles at the Estádio do Bessa in the opening game of the 2023-24 season, with striker Boženík scoring two goals on that occasion.

 

Players to Watch 

Vangelis Pavlidis has been in stunning form over the last few months. An incredible hat-trick against European giants Barcelona in the Champions League put the striker on the radar, and over the last few games, the Greek forward has cemented his place in the lineup as the club’s No. 9. This season, Pavlidis has scored 16 goals and assisted nine. 

Boavista will look to Slovakian striker Róbert Boženík to provide a spark in a hostile atmosphere. The talented striker has a presence up front, and is capable of transforming a game at any moment. Last season, Boženík finished with 11 goals and two assists. This season, that figure has dropped significantly, with the 25-year-old getting on scoresheet just three times, and contributing with just one assist.