2026/2027 season

Primeira Liga

Team page
Primeira Liga · Team page
SL Benfica
Head coach: Marco Silva · 4-2-3-1, d'après le onze le plus utilisé par Marco Silva cette saison selon BeSoccer (page consultée le 01/09/2026) : Samuel Soares au but, une ligne à quatre (C. Lenglet, Tomás Araújo, Samuel Dahl, A. Bah), un double pivot (E. Barrenechea, L. Barreiro), un trio de soutien (G. Sudakov, Rafa Silva, G. Prestianni) derrière V. Pavlidis en pointe. Les noms de Sudakov et Prestianni, arrivés récemment au club, confirment qu'il s'agit bien de données à jour pour 2026-27 et non d'un effectif obsolète.
Rank
2nd
Pts
19
P
8
Form
🟢 Good

The essentials at a glance

The summary of this page: estimated level of play, form trend and qualitative verdict. For the details, head to the other tabs.

Editors' ratings
10/10
Attack
8/10
Defence
8/10
Form
9/10
Confidence / mood
Current risk:High

2nd with 19 pts from 8 matches: 6 wins, 1 draw, 1 defeat.

24 goals scored, 7 conceded.

I certainly didn't find and find Marcos Leonardo to be the best, because he can't play football." In January 2024 Marcos Leonardo left for 22 million from Santos to Benfica, to switch to Al-Hilal for 40 million eight months later. It's a hell of a lot of money. But according to Van der Zee, not because the attacker stood out in Portugal. "Sportively, he completely failed at Benfica.

NOS Voetbal · 18 Oct 2026 · machine-translated

Benfica hit UD Oliveirense this Saturday afternoon for 92-67 at the Faithfulness Pavilion, at the 3.ª Betclic League journey 26/27. The eagles smile again in the championship.

zerozero · 17 Oct 2026 · machine-translated

Sporting won the Portuguese Volleyball Super Cup for the third time in a row, winning the Benfica rival for 3-0, in a match played at the Viseu City Pavilion.

RTP Desporto · 17 Oct 2026 · machine-translated

Sporting leaves for the new season with the responsibility of defending the national title after having been sacred two-time champion, while Benfica seeks to regain the status of once and return to the top of Portuguese volleyball.

zerozero · 17 Oct 2026 · machine-translated

How the team has played recently

Match-by-match results, record and rhythm of the current season.

Latest matches
Wvs Vitória SC (H) · 2-0
Lvs FC Porto (A) · 1-3
Wvs Gil Vicente FC (H) · 3-1
Wvs Moreirense FC (A) · 4-0
Wvs CS Marítimo (A) · 3-0
WWWWWWDL
24 scored / 7 conceded over 8 matches played
Rest: 7 days since the last match · 1 match played in the last 15 days
Home form
3W - 1D - 0L
Away form
3W - 0D - 1L
Statistics

Computed from this season's scores, every time the page is shown.

Goals scored per match
2.6
Goals conceded per match
0.8
At home
5 scored · 1 conceded in 2 matches
Away
8 scored · 3 conceded in 3 matches
Over 2.5 goals
4 of 5
Both teams score
2 of 5
Clean sheets
3 of 5
Failed to score
0 of 5
Cumulative points vs league average

Not enough matchdays recorded yet for this curve — history builds up with every standings refresh.

How SL Benfica play

System, playing identity, and what sets the team apart at both ends of the pitch.

Playing identity
Preferred system
4-2-3-1, d'après le onze le plus utilisé par Marco Silva cette saison selon BeSoccer (page consultée le 01/09/2026) : Samuel Soares au but, une ligne à quatre (C. Lenglet, Tomás Araújo, Samuel Dahl, A. Bah), un double pivot (E. Barrenechea, L. Barreiro), un trio de soutien (G. Sudakov, Rafa Silva, G. Prestianni) derrière V. Pavlidis en pointe. Les noms de Sudakov et Prestianni, arrivés récemment au club, confirment qu'il s'agit bien de données à jour pour 2026-27 et non d'un effectif obsolète.
Philosophy
Ahead of the Europa League play-off against St Gallen (22/07/2026), Marco Silva summed up his approach as “we must try to impose our game” (source: Executive Digest); no more precise tactical detail (system, attacking play) could be confirmed for the 2026-27 season.
Attacking strengths
11 goals scored in only 3 matchdays played (7 pts), the best attacking average in the league among clubs having played at least 3 matches; win over Estoril on 31/08/2026, the exact score of which is the subject of a contradiction between sources (see note in the uncertainties).
Defensive solidity
3 goals conceded in 3 matchdays played.
Pressing
Transitions
StrengthProlific attack (11 goals in 3 matches) and experienced recruitment in summer 2026, marked by the officially confirmed arrival of João Palhinha (Bayern Munich, contract until 2030) on 26/08/2026.
WeaknessFixture schedule behind their direct rivals (3 league matchdays played against 4 for Porto and Sporting, linked to European commitments); several summer transfer targets that did not come off in July according to the press (including Ibrahima Ba, who left for Strasbourg), a source of frustration publicly expressed by Marco Silva.

The mood around the club, and who is missing

Internal climate, relationship with the supporters, and known absences before the next match.

Mood
Squad confidence
The mood has brightened markedly in a week: after fighting for his additions, Marco Silva has seen João Palhinha, Souffian El Karouani and then Claudio Echeverri arrive, all three registered on the UEFA list. Seven points from nine, eleven goals scored in only three matchdays and captain Tomás Araújo's extension until 2031 complete a favourable picture. The board has also trimmed without damage, placing Richard Ríos, Joshua Wynder and Tomás Cruz. It remains to be confirmed on the pitch, with a trip to Marítimo and then a rearranged match against Moreirense that will let them close the gap in the table.
Coach / players / board relationship
July's tension between Marco Silva and his board over the pace of the window appears settled: the head coach got a specialist midfielder, a left-back and a playmaker, and the club has secured its captain for five more years. The board also chose to close the chapter on the 2025 recruitment by moving on four of that summer's eight signings, including Ríos, who went from a starter under Bruno Lage to third choice under Marco Silva. No public disagreement has been expressed since. The only point of attention is the density of competition created in midfield, where Echeverri arrives to challenge Sudakov for a place and Barrenechea now has to contend with Palhinha.
Mood with the supporters
Pressure on the head coach
No public questioning: Marco Silva has been in post since his agreement was made official on 9 June 2026 (Benfica SAD CMVM statement) and is under contract until the end of the 2027-2028 season, with an option until 2028-2029.
Club objectives
Closing the gap in the table is the immediate objective: Benfica have played only three matchdays and will play their rearranged match against Moreirense on 9 September. Next comes the Europa League league phase, for which the club registered its three latest additions. In the longer term, the financial stake is explicit: getting a return on heavy summer investment, in the continuity of a summer in which Dedić's €35.9m sale to Newcastle acted as a counterweight to the spending.
Recent internal tensions
Tension reported in mid-July 2026: Marco Silva is said to have expressed annoyance at the pace of the summer transfer window, according to Correio da Manhã (17/07/2026); not confirmed by a direct, official statement from the club, and appears to have been resolved since by several arrivals in late August 2026.
Absences
DoubtfulEnzo Barrenechea — Trauma to the left leg sustained against Estoril, with no muscle tear confirmed; daily assessments, with a strong internal belief that he will be available at Marítimo (source: Glorioso1904, 2 Sep 2026).

Before kick-off

What to know before the next match: statistical form, qualitative analysis, and a computed estimate of the 1/X/2 probabilities.

Next match

CD Santa Clara — SL Benfica

AwayMonday 26 October at 19:45Matchday 9
In 8 days. Kick-off time confirmed by the league. Paris time · football-data.org fixtures.

Prediction, odds and form of both teams →

What the press says

No preview found for this fixture. The press mostly covers the big games, and usually the day before.

Prediction
EstimateCD Santa Clara — SL Benfica
29 %
1 · CD Santa Clara
26 %
X · draw
45 %
2 · SL Benfica
In-house calculation, from this page's standings data alone: 8 matches played by CD Santa Clara, 8 matches by SL Benfica. Confidence: fair
The formula, in plain words — with this match's figures
  1. League average. 195 goals scored over 142 team-matches played (18 teams taken into account), i.e. μ = 1.37 goal scored per team per match. This is the reference point: everything that follows is expressed relative to it.
  2. Attacking and defensive strengths. Goals scored (or conceded) per match, divided by μ. 1.00 = exactly average; in defence, above 1.00 means “concedes more than average”.
    TeamGoalsRawKept
    CD Santa Clara — attack12 in 8 matches1.091.05
    CD Santa Clara — defence4 in 8 matches0.360.64
    SL Benfica — attack24 in 8 matches2.181.68
    SL Benfica — defence7 in 8 matches0.640.79
    The “Kept” column is the result of shrinkage towards the mean: weight = P / (P + 6), i.e. 0.57 for CD Santa Clara and 0.57 for SL Benfica. The rest of the weight goes to the league average. This is what stops a lone 5-0 from producing an attack at 3.3 times the average — and hence a 95% probability.
  3. Home advantage (γ). Measured on the league itself: 1.20 goal scored on average by the host against 1.49 by the visitor, over the 45 fixtures present in each team's last 5 matches. Raw ratio 0.81; shrunk towards 1 (weight 0.43, on the log of the ratio) then capped at 1.25 → γ = 1.00. Shrinkage goes towards 1, i.e. no advantage at all: while the sample is small, the model does not assert a home advantage it cannot measure.
  4. Venue correction, specific to each team. Drawn from the home/away split: points per match at the venue concerned are compared to points per match over all fixtures, with stronger shrinkage (weight = P / (P + 8)) and a bound of ±12%.
    CD Santa Clara at home: 2.00 pts/match versus 2.25 overall over 4 matches → ×0.963
    SL Benfica away: 2.25 pts/match versus 2.38 overall over 4 matches → ×0.982
  5. Expected goals. One side's attack is set against the other's defence. γ applies to the host only: applying it the other way round too would count the home advantage twice.
    λCD Santa Clara = 1.37 × 1.05 × 0.79 × 1.00 × 0.963 = 1.10
    λSL Benfica = 1.37 × 1.68 × 0.64 × 0.982 = 1.44
  6. Poisson grid. Probability of every exact score from 0-0 to 8-8, assuming the two goal totals are independent, then adding up the cells: home win 28.9%, draw 26.3%, away win 44.8% — displayed rounded to whole numbers so that they add up to exactly 100. Most likely exact score in the grid: 1-1 (only 12.5%, which says enough about how unpredictable an exact score is).
Limits of this model — they are not anecdotal.
  • It only knows goals and a venue. Neither absences, suspensions, line-ups, fatigue, stakes, weather nor club context enter the calculation — while the other tabs of this page show that they matter.
  • The assumption that the two goal totals are independent is false in reality: it slightly underestimates tight scores, hence the draw.
  • γ is measured over a rolling window (each team's last 5 matches), not over the whole season.
  • The shrinkage constants (6, 60, 8) and the bounds are choices, not measurements. They were tuned to be cautious early in the season; they were not calibrated on a results history, as none is available here.
  • No after-the-fact evaluation has been made: at this stage, nobody knows whether this model is better or worse calibrated than another.
What other sources say
No external source has been collected for this match. That is the normal state: readings are taken by hand, and an empty box is better than an unverified figure.
This block shows probability estimates, not predictions, and carries no advisory value. The in-house estimate is the result of a formula applied to a small sample; the figures from external sources are reproduced as they were collected, without their method having been verified.

The full squad

The professional squad by position, captain marked with an armband.

Goalkeepers
  • Anatoliy Trubin
  • Samuel Soares
Defenders
  • Alexander Bah
  • Tomás Araújo
  • Samuel Dahl
  • Arnau Circati
  • Clément Lenglet
  • Daniel Banjaqui
  • José Neto
  • Gabriel Índio
Midfielders
  • Rafa Silva
  • Richard Ríos
  • Fredrik AursnesC
  • Heorhiy Sudakov
  • Leandro Barreiro
  • João Palhinha
  • Enzo Barrenechea
  • Manu Silva
  • Miguel Figueiredo
Forwards
  • Vangelis Pavlidis
  • Jakub Kamiński
  • Bruma
  • Dodi Lukébakio
  • Jhon Durán
  • Andreas Schjelderup
  • Gianluca Prestianni
  • Anísio Cabral
  • Amir Saidi
This team's current captain could not be confirmed with certainty at the last check — no armband is shown above until the information is reliable.
Squad last verified on 1 Sep 2026 — source: BeSoccer (squad list), cross-checked with A Bola (announcement of the new captaincy, 04/08/2026), slbenfica.pt (official confirmation of Marco Silva, 09/06/2026) and A Bola (arrival of Palhinha, 26/08/2026)..

What has been said recently

Chronological feed of verified information about the club.

rss18 Oct 2026
Benfica goleia in Madeira with the right to the debut of Ana Borges
Source: zerozero
rss18 Oct 2026
This way: The gold (and tears) of Iuri. Benfica puts Trubin on sale
Source: Notícias ao Minuto — Desporto
rss17 Oct 2026
Benfica beat Oliveirense, Sporting fell with bang and FC Porto shook
Source: Notícias ao Minuto — Desporto
rss17 Oct 2026
Benfica wins UD Oliveirense in large and smiles again in the championship
Source: zerozero
rss17 Oct 2026
Sporting wins Benfica and conquers the volleyball Super Cup again
Source: RTP Desporto
rss17 Oct 2026
Hit the Seixal. Benfica kneading Sporting and rises to the throne in juniors
Source: Notícias ao Minuto — Desporto
Transfers3 Sep 2026
Claudio Echeverri has taken his first training session under Marco Silva. The 20-year-old Argentine playmaker, on loan from Manchester City with a €21m purchase option, will wear number 30 and will compete with Heorhiy Sudakov for the third midfield place. Reuniting with Gianluca Prestianni, his former team-mate at youth international level, marked his first day at the Luz.
Source: A Bola
Transfers3 Sep 2026
Benfica have loaned American centre-back Joshua Wynder, 21, to the New England Revolution until the end of the 2026-27 European season. Signed in 2023 from Louisville City, he will have played only one first-team match, in April 2025, his development having been held back by injuries.
Source: A Bola
Club3 Sep 2026
Notícias ao Minuto takes stock of the summer 2025 recruitment: four of that summer's eight signings have already left the club. Ivanović is on loan at Lens with no purchase option after 8 goals in 42 matches for €22.5m invested, Dedić was sold to Newcastle for €35.9m, Obrador is on loan at Sassuolo with a €6m option and Richard Ríos is leaving for Al Ittihad for €5m, with no option.
Source: Notícias ao Minuto
Club3 Sep 2026
The rearranged matchday 2 fixture between Moreirense and Benfica is scheduled for 9 September at 20:45, which will allow the Lisbon side to draw level with their rivals in matches played.
Source: Maisfutebol
European competition2 Sep 2026
Benfica have completed their UEFA list for the Europa League league phase: João Palhinha, left-back Souffian El Karouani and Claudio Echeverri are on it, while Richard Ríos has been removed following his move to Saudi Arabia.
Source: A Bola
Contract2 Sep 2026
Tomás Araújo's extension until 2031 comes with a pay rise and a change to his release clause: the previous figure of €100m has been reduced to €80m. The 24-year-old defender, the team's captain, therefore remains protected by a high threshold despite the reduction.
Source: A Bola
Transfers2 Sep 2026
Luxembourg-Portuguese midfielder Tomás Cruz has left Benfica for Bodrumspor, where he joins Diogo Sousa, Pedro Brazão and Aboubakar.
Source: Maisfutebol
Injury2 Sep 2026
Off at half-time against Estoril, Enzo Barrenechea has trauma to his left leg with no muscle tear confirmed. The medical department is carrying out daily assessments and the internal belief is strong that he can take his place at the Barreiros.
Source: Glorioso1904
Club2 Sep 2026
Benfica travel to Marítimo on Saturday at 18:00 for matchday 5, with Sérgio Guelho refereeing and Manuel Oliveira on VAR. The club remain the only side in the top half to have played only three matchdays.
Source: Maisfutebol
Contract2 Sep 2026
Portugal international Tomás Araújo has extended his contract with Benfica until 2031.
Source: Maisfutebol
News last verified on 18 Oct 2026. Sources: sports press (L'Équipe, Le Parisien, Foot Mercato, regional press…) and official club websites — see the link on each item.
Editorial content (playing style, mood, absences, external prediction sources) last verified on 3 Sep 2026. The standings/form data above are refreshed automatically — as is the 1/X/2 estimate, recomputed on every view.