Benfica enter the UEFA Champions League in the third qualifying round as they host FC Midtjylland in the first leg of their tie on Tuesday. Although the Danish side are already into their domestic campaign, Benfica are still expected to have the upper hand.
Benfica were one of the surprise teams in last season’s Champions League as they went all the way to the last eight. They now appear to be entering a transitional campaign following a summer of departures at the club, including star striker Darwin Nunez, who has joined Liverpool.
Despite all the changes at Benfica, they have been near perfect in preseason, winning all five of their matches. The last outing for Roger Schmidt’s men was a 3-2 victory over Premier League side Newcastle United, with Henrique Araujo netting a late winner.
While it has been a generally positive preseason campaign for Benfica, one key thing is they do not appear to be missing Darwin Nunez. The goals have flowed freely in all their friendlies with attackers Roman Yaremchuk, Henrique Araujo and Goncalo Ramos all impressing.
Although Midtjylland are already weeks into the Danish league season, they are still struggling to find their rhythm. They only just claimed their first league win of the season last Friday as they eased to a 5-1 victory over OB.
In truth, that result at OB was Midtjylland’s first proper win across all competitions this term as they needed penalties to see off Cypriot side AEK Larnaca in the previous round of the qualifiers. Both matches ended in 1-1 draws before the Danes claimed the upper hand in the shootout.
Among the problems for Midtjylland early this season is a lack of discipline at the back. Bo Henriksen’s men have played five matches so far across all competitions this season, failing to keep a single clean sheet in any of those fixtures.
How the bookies view it
Benfica are considered overwhelming favourites among the bookies and are priced at odds of 2/7 by BoyleSports to claim the win. An unlikely victory for Midtjylland is valued at 12/1 by BetVictor while a draw is set at odds of 5/1 by bet365.
Head to head
This will be the first ever meeting between Benfica and Midtjylland.
Players to watch
Despite losing Darwin Nunez in the transfer market, Benfica have looked imperious in attack throughout preseason. While they have lots off options in attack, Roman Yaremchuk is likely to be the farthest forward and is priced at evens with Unibet to get on the score sheet.
Midtjylland have also been on target in all their matches this season, although not as much as Benfica. Sory Kaba is expected to lead the line for the Danes and is priced at 9/2 by Unibet to score anytime on Tuesday.
Anything else catch the eye?
Benfica are expected to be generally comfortable on Tuesday and given the number goals scored in preseason, they could be backed in the -2 handicap market at 21/10 with Paddy Power. The Portuguese side can also be tipped to score in both halves at evens with bet365.
There have been over 3.5 goals in Benfica’s last three matches and a similar outcome is priced at 9/5 by Unibet while over 2.5 goals is valued at 7/10 by bet365.
This UEFA Champions League match between Benfica and FC Midtjylland will be played on Aug 2, 2022 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Benfica vs FC Midtjylland prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.