Benfica welcome Fenerbahce to the Estadio da Luz on Wednesday night in the second leg of their Champions League playoff tie.
This tie remains firmly in the balance, as the pair played out a goalless draw in Istanbul in the first leg last Wednesday.
Benfica were forced to play the final 20 minutes with a man down, and Fenerbahce failed to take advantage of that, as they were denied a first-leg lead as Youseff En-Nesyri’s late goal was ruled out due to a tight offside.
After an opening day goalless draw away at Goztepe, Jose Mourinho’s men did at least get their first league win of the season at the weekend, as they defeated newly-promoted Kocaelispor.
Benfica also claimed maximum points domestically at the weekend, recording a routine 3-0 victory over Tondela at home, making it back-to-back league wins to begin the campaign.
How the bookies view it: Benfica favourites
Benfica have been installed as favourites to return to the Champions League's league phase, with BoyleSports pricing an Eagles win at just 11/20.
Mourinho’s men are 4/1 underdogs to win inside 90 minutes, whilst BoyleSports have it at 14/5 for the tie to go to extra time and potentially penalties.
Head to head: Eagles flying in recent meetings with the Canaries
Benfica are unbeaten in each of their previous four competitive meetings with Fenerbahce (W2-D2-L0), winning each of their last two in front of their supporters.
Those include a 3-1 win in the Europa League semi-finals back in 2013 and a 1-0 victory in the third qualifying round for the Champions League in 2018.
Players to watch: Pavlidis to pounce?
Vangelis Pavlidis had an excellent first season for Benfica last summer, firing in 30 goals in 57 appearances in all competition, with seven of those coming in the Champions League. The Greek international has already scored twice this term, and is an appealing 6/5 to get on the scoresheet once again on Wednesday night.
Predicted line-ups:
Benfica will obviously be without Florentino following his two yellow cards in Istanbul last week, whilst full-back Alexander Bah, Manu Silva and winger Bruma also miss out through injury.
Jose Mourinho will be unable to call upon defender Rodrigo Becao, captain Mert Hakan Yandas and veteran forward Cenk Tosun through injury.
Benfica: Trubin, Dedic, Silva, Otamendi, Dahl, Rios, Barrenchea, Barreiro, Aursunes, Akturkoglu, Pavlidis
Fenerbahce: Egribayat, Muldur, Oosterwolde, Skriniar, Semedo, Fred, Amrabat, Brown, Szymanski, Duran, En-Nesyri
Anything else catch the eye?
Benfica remain unbeaten in all competitions this season (W5-D1-L0), with the only time they’ve failed to win coming in the first leg in Istanbul last week.
The key to their success so far this campaign has been their exceptional defensive record, keeping six straight clean sheets.
As stated above, The Eagles have been victorious in each of their previous two competitive clashes with Fenerbahce on home soil, with Under 4.5 Goals landing on each occasion, and I like the look of the even money on offer for a repeat on Wednesday night at Bet365.
There were eight yellows and one red shown in the first leg last week, and you’d expect plenty more in Lisbon on Wednesday evening, and the Over 6.5 Cards at Bet365 appeals.
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