CLUB BRUGGE and Benfica do battle in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie at the Jan Breydel Stadium on Wednesday night.
The Belgians made history by reaching this stage of the competition after claiming second spot in Group B behind Porto, notably finishing above both Bayer Leverkusen and Atletico Madrid in the process.
Such a feat however was not enough to keep Carl Hoefkens in the hotseat, with Scott Parker taking the reins in the province of West Flanders during the winter.
To date, the Blue-Black have struggled to come to life under the former Bournemouth chief's tutorship, with Brugge currently 20 points off the pace in the Belgian Pro League following Friday's 1-1 draw with Union Saint-Gilloise.
Benfica, meanwhile, were one of the standout performers during the group phase, pushing money-bags Paris Saint Germain into second place in Group H to set up this tie.
Closer to home, Roger Schmidt's side are surveying the standings from the summit top of the Portuguese Primeira Liga where they sit five points clear of fierce rivals Porto.
Outright Betting
Club Brugge lost to Portuguese opposition in their most recent Champions League home game and the bookies' odds suggest they will suffer the same fate here, with the hosts 16/5 (Bet 365) underdogs while the draw is an unfancied 11/4 (Bet 365).
Benfica, who have yet to taste defeat in this season's Champions League, arrive in Belgium as 17/20 (Bet 365) favourites.
Betting Angles
Benfica are worthy favourites here but rather than siding with an away success, I'm happy to instead back the visitors to score Over 1.5 Team goals at 11/12 (SBK).
As already alluded to, the Eagles earned rave reviews for their showings during the group stage as they played with a real swagger and confidence en-route to qualifying for the round of 16.
In fact, only Napoli and Bayern Munich scored more goals than Benfica during the pool phase of the competition, with Roger Schmidt's side slamming in 16 goals across their six Group H outings.
While Club Brugge have exceeded all expectations by reaching this stage of the competition, their form has fallen off a cliff since the World Cup Break.
The Belgian champions have claimed top honours in just one of their last nine matches in all competitions, not to mention they have managed to keep their sheets clean just once during that sequence, which doesn't bode well ahead of a visit from Benfica side that have been scoring freely all season.
Given that the Lisbon giants have scored in all six of their Champions League matches this season so far -delivering multiple goals in four of those contests – backing Benfica at strike twice here holds appeal at a shade under odds-against.
Elsewhere, I'll also head to Paddy Power's to Score or Assist market and take Benfica's Joao Mario at 7/5 (PaddyPower).
The Portuguese playmaker has either scored or provided a goal in an eye-catching 22 of his overall 29 appearances for the Eagles this season so far, so he definitely represents a spot of value to add to that tally here against toiling opposition.
This UEFA Champions League match between Club Brugge and Benfica will be played on Feb 15, 2023 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Club Brugge vs Benfica prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
