Following their lacklustre performance in the first leg, Benfica face a far tougher task in the return leg against St Gallen than they had anticipated or hoped. This is undoubtedly shaping up to be one of the matches you won’t want to miss on Thursday.
One of last week’s big surprises, St Gallen beat Benfica 2–1, having been on completely equal terms for most of the match.
At the weekend, they recorded another victory in the opening round of the Swiss Super League, whilst Benfica played a friendly against Os Belenenses, winning 5-1. Of course, the regular first-team players did not feature in the friendly, so they will be fully rested for this return leg.
And we expect to see a completely different Benfica, given that a place in the Europa League is at stake and this will be their first match at the Estadio da Luz this season.
If you recall, Benfica finished last season in Portugal without a single defeat and were particularly dominant in their home matches. Here, the difference in class should finally become apparent, and we expect to see a complete turnaround in the aggregate score.
How the bookies view it: The Eagles will be unstoppable
Hardly anyone will be surprised by the huge advantage Benfica have in the odds. The bookmakers expect this match to be a completely one-sided affair, with Benfica priced at 1/10.
A draw is priced at 15/2, whilst the visitors, St Gallen, are priced at 14/1.
Recent head-to-head: St Gallen shocked the world last week
As we mentioned a week ago, the first leg was the first official meeting between the two teams, and we generally doubt they will meet again any time soon following this return leg.
There wasn’t much excitement expected following the Swiss side’s previous defeats against Portuguese rivals, but their 2–1 victory made this clash far more intriguing.
Players to watch: Pavlidis is a different beast at home
I’ll stick to my prediction regarding Vangelis Pavlidis, even though he failed to score in the first leg. Nevertheless, Benfica scored their only goal thanks to his assist, and we expect him to put in his best performance in the second leg, particularly at the Estadio da Luz.
Pavlidis has been an absolute machine over the last two seasons, scoring 30 goals in each of them. On a normal day, St Gallen – or any other team, for that matter – would have serious problems dealing with him.
Backed a player to find the net? Check our Goalscorer Betting guide to see how the markets work and where to find value.
Probable line-ups
Benfica: Trubin, Bah, Araujo, A. Silva, Dahl, Barrenechea, Manu, R. Silva, Sudakov, Kaminski, Pavlidis
St Gallen: Ati Zigi, Gaal, Stanic, Okoroji, Vandermersch, Daschner, Boukhalfa, Gortler, Stevanovic, Hunziker, Balde
Anything else catch the eye?
Benfica clearly still have some work to do following the change of manager and are not quite so invincible. But when they’re at home, they’re a completely different side, and I reckon they’ll dominate from the very first second of the match.
I expect them to start strongly and push for the opening goal. Given the low odds on a win, I’d be more inclined to back them to be ahead at half-time, and subsequently to finish the match with at least three goals.
It’s not out of the question that St Gallen might find a way through to score, but I’d say it’s far more likely that Benfica will win with a clean sheet.
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