Football Bet of the Day: Mourinho to light up Lisbon derby

My, oh my. How about a Lisbon derby on Friday night to tickle your fancy?

Benfica host Sporting CP (20:15 GMT) at Estadio da Luz in the Primeira Liga looking to narrow the three-point margin that exists between them and their visitors, with Porto currently leading the way. Below you can find my Football Bet of the Day for this seismic clash.

What a way to kick off matchday 13 in Portugal’s top flight. With Porto dropping off in the last couple of years (but coming back with a bang this term), these two have contested the last four domestic honours. 

Sporting, inspired by Viktor Gyokeres, won their second consecutive league title last term and they also won the Taca da Portugal. Benfica got some sort of payback as they won the Super Cup in July thanks to a Vangelis Pavlidis winner, but they will still be reeling from three near misses to their fierecest rivals. 

Both teams will be aware of the fact that a resurgent Porto currently lead the way - three points clear of Sporting and six ahead of Benfica, meaning a defeat on home soil would leave the Eagles with an awful lot to do. 

However, Jose Mourinho’s men remain unbeaten in the league this season, but four draws out of 12 are holding them back from their full potential. They ground out a 0-0 away at Porto which is a great result, but dropped points against Santa Clara, Casa Pia and Rio Ave - having led in all three of those games. 

Benfica vs Sporting CP Odds

Winning just half of their home games this season is also a problem that needs to be fixed if Mourinho is going to be crowned the king of his homeland again. In December 2000, in his first managerial job, he enjoyed a 3-0 win with Benfica over Sporting, and he will be desperate to repeat that a quarter of a century later. 

He’s won his last three in charge in 2025, and momentum is high on the red front, but the same can be said for Sporting. Four wins in a row heading into the derby is some going and they hammered Estrela Amadora 4-0 last time out. 

Rui Borges has been a sensational appointment for them, and has now won 34 of his 50 games in charge since arriving on Boxing Day. They’ve beaten all comers this term except for a narrow 2-1 defeat to Porto and a 1-1 draw with Braga - so it leads me to believe that this will be a very close encounter once again. 

Six wins out of six on the road is remarkable, but Sporting haven’t won at Da Luz since 2021 with one loss and three draws in their last four visits. The last game here between these two finished 1-1, and I can’t separate them again, so Friday’s Football Bet of the Day is a draw between Benfica and Sporting - a result that would make Porto the real winners from the weekend. 

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