Sunderland under-23s welcome Portuguese outfit Benfica to Wearside on Friday night as they begin their Premier League International Cup campaign.
Ahead of the match safc.com has put together an all you need to know guide...
Fixture: Sunderland U23 v Benfica B
Location: Eppleton Colliery Welfare
Date and kick-off: Friday 18 November, KO 7pm
Competition: Premier League International Cup
How they line-up: Benfica B
League position: 5th
League wins: 7
League defeats: 3
League goals scored: 18
League goals conceded: 15
League form: DLWLW
International Cup: Derby County U23 0-2 Benfica B (dcfc.co.uk)
A goal in each half saw Derby County’s Under 23s fall to a 2-0 defeat to a strong and confident Benfica B side in their latest Premier League International Cup outing.
Joao Carvalho got the ball rolling for the Eagles at St George’s Park, converting a left wing cross with his head after 18 minutes after the visitors had controlled the opening stages of the meeting.
Heriberto Tavares added a crucial second with a lobbed finish that just crossed the goalline despite the best efforts of Chris Weale’s initial save and Calum Macdonald’s attempted acrobatic clearance.
It is a fair assessment to say that Darren Wassall’s came up against their toughest opponents of the season to date in Staffordshire, where win would have left them on the verge of qualifying for the knockout stages of the International Cup.
Spotlight: Benfica B head coach – Helder Cristovao
Born 21 March, 1971, Helder began his career at Spanish club Estoril and made over 80 appearances. The centre back then joined Benfica for the first time in 1992 and spent an initial four years with the Portuguese giants. After making over 120 appearances, Helder switched the Eagles for Deportivo La Coruna and stayed for five years. However, sandwiched in between his time at the Estadio Riazar was a short stint in England with Newcastle United between 1999 and 2000. Helder returned to Benfica in 2002 before spells at PSG and AEL 1964 eventually saw him call time on his playing career in 2006. The 45-year-old retired having played for the Portuguese national team 35 times. Helder has been Benfica B head coach since 2013.
Key battle: George Brady v Heriberto Tavares
With four goals in his opening 14 appearances this season, Heriberto Tavares is Benfica’s leading goalscorer. The 19-year-old is a powerful frontman but has a deadly poachers instinct. Having netted all four goals in the first nine games of the campaign, Tavares has failed to chalk up any goals in any of his last five appearances. However, as Benfica look to build on their opening International Cup victory over Derby County, Brady will have one eye on making sure Tavares doesn’t break his duck on Friday evening.
