St Gallen’s preseason results against Lyon and Norwich were extremely disappointing and Benfica represent a step up in class.
I don’t think the Portuguese club will have many issues winning this one, Vangelis Pavlidis an obvious choice for first goalscorer.
HTH
These clubs will be meeting for the first time.
St Gallen Exposed Against Top Clubs
St Gallen finished second in the Super League last season, five points behind champions Thun. They have failed to qualify in their previous two attempts in the Europa League, going out to Sarpsborg and AEK Athens.
The Swiss side competed in the Conference League in the 2024/25 season, losing 4-1 at home to Vitoria de Guimaraes.
Enrico Maassen’s side are coming off two convincing defeats in the preseason friendlies. They lost 6-3 against Lyon and 3-0 to Norwich, highlighting their issues against top clubs.
Benfica Enter the Marco Silva Era
Benfica failed to win a trophy last season, finishing third in the Primeira Liga. José Mourinho left to join Real Madrid with Marco Silva leaving Fulham to become the new manager.
The Eagles beat Estrela da Amadora 5-2 in a preseason friendly with Vangelis Pavlidis scoring twice. Pavlidis converted a penalty against Flamengo but it wasn’t enough, the Brazilian side winning 2-1 in the Algarve.
Silva’s side bounced back with a 2-0 win against Villarreal. Rafa Silva scored first and Pavlidis continued his fine form with another goal.
Predicted Lineups & Team News
St Gallen (3-5-2) Lawrence Ati Zigi; Tom Gaal, Jozo Stanic, Chima Okoroji; Hugo Vandermersch, Lukas Görtler, Lukas Daschner, Carlo Boukhalfa, Mihailo Stevanovic; Diego Besio, Aliou Baldé
Centre-backs Cyrill May and Stephan Ambrosius are injured alongside Nino Weibel and Malamine Efekele.
Benfica (4-2-3-1) Anatoliy Trubin; Alexander Bah, António Silva, Clément Lenglet, Samuel Dahl; Enzo Barrenechea, Manu Silva; Rafa Silva, Georgiy Sudakov, Jakub Kaminski; Vangelis Pavlidis
Bruma is injured with Fredrik Aursnes, Richard Rios, Dodi Lukebakio and Andreas Schjelderup recovering after playing at the World Cup. Gianluca Prestianni is suspended.
Leandro Barreiro is unavailable after picking up a respiratory infection. Jhon Durán is doubtful due to a paperwork issue with Al Nassr.