Hearts face a daunting trip to the Portuguese capital on Thursday night as they take on Benfica in the first leg of their Europa League third-round qualifying tie.
After losing out on the Premiership title in agonising fashion last season, Hearts have endured a summer of change, with manager Derek McInnes, captain Lawrence Shankland and influential midfielder Cammy Devlin all moving on to Rangers.
The Jambos appointed Wouter Vrancken as McIness’s successor, but it’s been a difficult start for the Belgian, as he saw his side beaten 6-0 on aggregate by Sturm Graz in the second round of Champions League qualifying.
The mood of the Hearts faithful would worsen at Pittodrie on Saturday, as they conceded twice in stoppage time to lose 2-1 to Aberdeen – on an evening both of my selections landed.
Following the departure of Jose Mourinho to Real Madrid, Benfica appointed Marco Silva as his successor, but the ex-Fulham head coach made a losing start as his new side lost 2-1 away at St Gallen in the previous round.
However, the Eagles bounced back from that setback emphatically, as they cruised to a 5-0 win in the second leg seven days later to set up a tie with the Scottish Premiership runners-up.
How the bookies view it: Benfica clear favourites
It will come as no surprise that Benfica are clear favourites to take a first-leg lead to Tynecastle next week, with bet365 pricing a home success at just 1/9.
Hearts are massive 16/1 outsiders to leave Lisbon with a victory, whilst the draw is also unfancied at 8/1.
Head to head: Fond memories for Benfica
These two clubs previously met in the 1960/61 edition of the European Cup, with the Portuguese winning 5-1 on aggregate in the preliminary round, before going on to lift the trophy.
Players to watch: Pavlidis to pounce again?
Vangelis Pavlidis scored 30 goals in all competitions for Benfica last season, and the Greek international has already opened his account this campaign by scoring four goals against St Gallen last week.
You would fancy him to add to his goal tally in the Portuguese capital on Thursday, but there are currently no goal-scorer markets available.
Backed a player to find the net? Check our Goalscorer Betting guide to see how the markets work and where to find value.
Predicted line-ups:
Benfica appear to have a clean bill of health.
Hearts will be without Craig Halkett, Stephen Kingsley, Malachi Fagan-Walcott and Ageu.
Benfica: Trubin, Bah, Araujo, Lenglet, Dahl, Barreiro, Barrenechea, Silva, Sudakov, Kaminski, Pavlidis
Hearts: Clark, Altena, Findlay, Milne, Mendy, McEntee, Spittal, Ba-Sy, Kyziridis, Miller, Braga
Anything else catch the eye?
It’s been a tough start for Wouter Vrancken as Hearts boss, and things look like they are only going to get tougher in Lisbon on Thursday night.
The Jambos lost both legs with Sturm Graz without scoring, so backing a Benfica Win to Nil at 8/11 at bet365 makes plenty of sense.
Benfica thrashed St Gallen 5-0 at the Estadio da Luz in the previous round last week- and given Hearts lost by four goals in Graz – backing the Eagles -2.5 on the Asian Handicap also appeals.
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