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| We look at the big three clubs in Portugal and how they will do in the Portuguese Primeira Liga. |
We look at the Big Three Clubs in Portugal tipped to win the Primeira Liga. As the 2017/18 season gets underway, defending champions Benfica will look to claim a fifth Liga title in a row, but the likes of FC Porto and Sporting Lisbon, won’t let sleeping dogs lie, and will be out for glory.
Benfica
The 36-time title winners have the best record in Portugal’s football club history, since 1935, the team has played 2330 matches, winning 1588 of them. An incredible feat that they continued on into their previous 2016/2017 season, winning a mere six points clear of rivals FC Porto. The Eagles topped the league with 82 points, 25 wins from 34 matches played.
The side lost to Dortmund in their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 clash, 4-1 on aggregate after winning the first leg 1-0.
This year we’ll see how the champions will fare against an array of money spending clubs.
Benfica transfers include the loss of Nelson Semedo to Barcelona for €30m, goalkeeper Ederson Moraes to Manchester city for €40m, and Victor Lindelof to Manchester United for €35m. Time will tell if the loss of these players is enough to have an impact on Benfica’s season.
The Challengers
FC Porto
The 27-time title winners will be disappointed to finish six points away from Benfica. A string of draws was enough to keep Porto away from their title race. The last time Porto won was in the 2012/2013 season. The Dragons, unfortunately, lost their top goal scorer, as Andre Silva was scooped up by big spending Chinese owned AC Milan, for €38m. But the side has introduced Atletico Madrid midfielder, Oliver Torres. Manager Sergio Conceicao will have to regroup and refresh his players ahead of another scintillating season.
Sporting Lisbon
Last season’s bronze medallists Sporting Lisbon, have won 18 titles in their history of Primeira Liga’s. The Lions performed well and managed to finish in the top flight, winning 21 from 34 matches, and suffered six losses in their campaign. The last time Sporting tasted league success was back in the 2001/2002 season, a feat they would love to relive this season. Fabio Coentrao will join Sporting from Real Madrid, to add some structure to the defence along with centre back Jeremy Mathieu who joins from Barcelona on a free transfer.
The challengers have a lot to do this season, but based on the 2016/2017 neck and neck race, the playing field is wide open, and we could have a new champion.
Prediction: Benfica (12/10)
With the chance of claiming five consecutive league titles on the cards, Benfica will pretty much give it their all, although the challengers won’t be too far behind. Still, I only see one winner in Benfica.
Written by Lungelo Mdladla
