Primeira Liga Matchday 11 pairs 12th placed Estrela da Amadora with second placed Benfica on 8 November 2026. Benfica sit on 25 points from 10 matches and trail leaders Porto by a narrow margin, making every result count right now. Estrela, with just 10 points and a negative goal difference, go into this on the back of four straight defeats, staring at the wrong half of the table with no obvious reason for optimism.
There is limited direct history between Marco Silva and Pepa as opposing managers, so this is less a chess match between tacticians and more a clash of footballing philosophies at very different stages of development. Silva was appointed on 12 June 2026 after replacing José Mourinho and has built a recognisable high pressing system in the months since. Pepa took over from Cristiano Bacci on 1 July 2026 and has not yet managed to tighten up an Estrela side that has conceded freely all season.
Estrela's last five results read L L L L D, their most recent outing a 1-2 defeat at Moreirense on 31 October 2026 that extended a run of 12 consecutive matches without a clean sheet. Benfica arrive in sharper form: five wins from five across competitions, including a 3-1 Europa League victory over Lech Poznan on 6 November and a narrow 1-0 Primeira Liga win against Alverca on 2 November.
Pepa is short of options going in, with Robinho a doubt through injury and Jeremy Arévalo similarly uncertain, thinning an attacking and midfield pool that was already stretched and making Estrela more reliant on predictable patterns. Benfica are missing Clement Lenglet and Leandro Barreiro, the latter ruled out with a knee ligament injury, though Silva still has more than enough depth to maintain his preferred shape.
Estrela set up pragmatically, with Lovro Zvonarek providing the creative thread from midfield and several forwards chipping in around four goals apiece this season. Without Robinho and with Arévalo doubtful, those transitions become more telegraphed and easier to read. Benfica press high and move the ball quickly, a system that has found its figurehead in Vangelis Pavlidis, who leads the Primeira Liga with 10 goals in 10 matches. Gianluca Prestianni, on six goals and assists, works the half spaces, while Georgiy Sudakov controls tempo from central areas. Lenglet and Barreiro's absences add a slight wrinkle to Benfica's build up but the relentless press will still pull Estrela apart.
The most interesting individual battles are Pavlidis against Estrela's central defenders and Prestianni against whichever full back Pepa puts on his left side. If Estrela crowd the centre to limit Sudakov, they expose the flanks, whereas holding their shape wide just gives Sudakov the freedom to run the game anyway. There is no clean answer to that problem.
Benfica have won nine of their last nine Primeira Liga meetings with Estrela, the most recent a 4-0 in January 2026. Benfica have been solid defending set pieces even without Lenglet and while Stoica and Marcus give Estrela a physical option from dead balls, nothing in this fixture's history suggests Estrela can turn that into goals here.
Estrela's 12-match run without a clean sheet does not suggest things are about to click into place, Pavlidis will likely score and Zvonarek keeping Estrela in possession for spells is a different thing entirely from converting that possession into actual danger against a team pressing this aggressively. A Benfica win would put them on 28 points, level with Porto at the top.
Ryan Baldi
Football Writer
Ryan Baldi is a professional football writer with years of experience and has been featured by respected outlets such as the BBC, The Guardian, Sky Sports, DAZN, FourFourTwo, ESPN, Yahoo Sport and Football365. He has also written several books including Arsène Who?.
