Benfica Lisbon vs Rangers Prediction & Betting Tips - Europa League

Prediction published on 05/03/2024, 15:00  by Ian John | Modified on 07/03/2024 at 07:00 in Europa League Prediction

Benfica host Rangers in the first leg of their Europa League Round of 16 tie on Thursday night (8pm Kick Off). The Eagles have suffered misery in their past two games in all competitions, losing 2-1 to their city rivals Sporting Lisbon in the first leg of the Taca de Portugal semi-final in midweek and then they followed that by being thrashed 5-0 by fierce rivals FC Porto at the Estadio do Dragao, with the hosts dominating the game and being full value for their statement victory. That defeat was just Benfica's second in the Portuguese League this season, but in Europe they have only won one game at home, and that came in a 2-1 win over Toulouse in the Europa League Playoff Stage last month. This is a Benfica squad packed with seasoned professionals, but one that at present, seems somewhat out of sorts.

The question is can Rangers capitalise on that in this first leg? The Stadium of Light is never an easy place to go in Europe, especially when it is knockout football and the Scottish side's long run of unbeaten games (11 in total) came to an end in surprising fashion with a 2-1 home loss to Motherwell at the weekend. Despite that, Celtic's 2-0 loss to Hearts meant that the Gers hung on to top spot in the Scottish Premiership. Manager Philippe Clement has overseen a huge improvement at the club since he took over and their form in the Europa League this season has been exceptional with just one defeat in ten games, with all other games being won. Benfica have scored 15 goals in their last four games at home, but most of those have come against lower Portuguese league opponents and those goals have dried up against better quality opponents. Something Rangers could take advantage of in this first leg clash.