Benfica v Auckland City
Benfica

Benfica vs Auckland City

, KO: 17:00 , Inter and Co Stadium
Auckland City

Auckland City are still reeling from their 10-goal thrashing by Bayern Munich and the Kiwis will be out to avoid another embarrassing defeat when they face Benfica in their second Club World Cup match.

The gulf between the amateur side and the global elite was ruthlessly underlined as Bayern ran riot on Sunday, with two bets landing for our man Adam as the goals flew in.

The money men at Auckland won't be too bothered about taking a few sore ones this summer as they bank a big cheque from FIFA but Albert Riera's players will want to put on a much better performance in their final two games.

The bad news for them is Benfica will be going for the throat in this one as goal difference looks like being pivotal in deciding who reaches the knockout stages.

With Bayern heavy favourites to top Group C, it should be a fight between Benfica and Boca Juniors to finish second and they battled out a thrilling 2-2 draw in their opener.

I thought the Portuguese side would edge that game but they had to come from 2-0 down to salvage a point in a fiery clash that saw three red cards.

It could now come down to who scores the most goals against the minnows to decide who finishes second so Benfica will be out to put on a show in Orlando.

How the bookies view it: More misery for Auckland

After such an pitiful performance in their opener, Auckland City are 80/1 outsiders for this one. Benfica are a tiny 1/250 and even the draw is huge at 50/1.

Head to head: First time's a charm

These sides have never faced off before with Benfica gracing the Club World Cup for the first time. Auckland City have appeared at this tournament more than any other side and this will be their 10th finals.

Their best performance came in 2014 as they reached the semis before losing to San Lorenzo of Argentina in extra time. They then beat Cruz Azul on penalties to finish third.

Players to watch: Vangelis to get off the mark

Vangelis Pavlidis let me down after I tipped him to score against Boca but the bookies have him at a best 2/7 for a goal here. The Greek striker is better value for first scorer at 39/20 with Unibet.

New Zealand international Myer Bevan should lead the line again for Auckland City and he's 14/1 at Betfred to grab a goal here.

Probable line-ups

Benfica are without forward Andrea Belotti after the Italian was sent off against Boca Juniors. Zeki Amdouni, Manu Silva and Alexander Bah are also set to miss out again.

Michael den Heijer is a doubt for Auckland City with a back injury while boss Riera may be tempted to make a few changes after their mauling by Bayern Munich.

Benfica: Trubin, Carreras, A Silva, Dahl, Otamendi, Aursnes, Florentino, Kokcu, Di Maria, Pavlidis, Akturkoglu.

Auckland City: Tracey, Murati, Mitchell, Rogers, Boxall, Lobo, Yoo, Lagos, Ilich, Manickum, Bevan.

Anything else catch the eye?

It's hard to see Auckland City being so bad in this game and you'd imagine they will have learned a few valuable lessons from that Bayern rout. I'm expecting them to be more defensive so under 6.5 match goals could be worth a punt at 11/10 with Betfred.

In addition to scoring 10 goals, Bayern Munich also hit double figures for corners against the New Zealanders. The corner handicap doesn't offer much value in this one, with Benfica -8 priced at just 10/11, but I like the 6/4 on offer at Bet365 for over 1.5 corners in the first 10 minutes.

Benfica vs Auckland City Betting Tips & Predictions
Under 6.5 goals
11/10
Betfred
Over 1.5 corners in first 10 minutes
6/4
Bet365
Vangelis Pavlidis to score first
39/20
UniBet
Further Reading
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