Benfica v Toulouse

Benfica v Toulouse Preview

Benfica drew 2-2 away from home at Vitoria Guimaraes in the Portuguese top flight on the weekend and in turn extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to four games overall which includes picking up three wins, while Toulouse slipped to a third defeat in four games in Ligue 1 on the weekend when they were handed a disappointing 2-1 loss at home to Nantes.

Previous wins against Estrela and Gil Vicente in resounding 4-0 and 3-1 victories respectively in the domestic Primeria Liga along with a Taca de Portugal cup win against Vizela 2-1 should give the hosts plenty of confidence ahead of this 1st leg Europa League tie against Toulouse, while the bigger picture further underlines Benfica's credentials.

Roger Schmidt's side have suffered just the single defeat out of their last 18 matches overall in all competitions which came in the form of a loss on penalties to Estoril in the domestic League Cup but otherwise, Benfica have been in excellent form for the past few months now.

13 wins within these last 18 games overall only further confirms that the hosts will provide tough opposition for the French visitors and goals also look set to feature as well, as eight of Benfica's last 10 matches overall have also resulted in Over 2.5 goals as well.

Toulouse were dealt a 2-1 loss at home to Nantes in the French top flight on Sunday which not only became their third loss in four games but could also be a blow to the visitors' confidence ahead of this tough looking trip to the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica to take on Benfica in this opening leg of their round of 16 clash.

Previous recent losses to Rouen in the Coupe de France and Lens in Ligue 1 have outweighed Toulouse's recent 3-2 win away from home at Reims and wins overall have been hard to come by for Carles Marinez's side as the visitors have collected just four wins from their last 15 games in all competitions.

Within this ordinary looking run of 15 games, Toulouse have also slipped to seven defeats during this period and this sort of form is likely to land the visitors in trouble on Thursday night against a strong looking Benfica outfit unless the visitors can pull their collective socks up.

However, Toulouse had earlier finished runners-up behind Liverpool in Group E in the group stage of this season's Europa League so they will be hoping they can rekindle the sort of form which saw the visitors slip to just one defeat in this stage.

Benfica v Toulouse Verdict

Benfica's quality and depth of squad should see the hosts over the line with a few goals into the bargain.

Therefore, our main bet will be Over 2.5 goals @ 1.72

Other side bets worth considering:

Benfica win & Over 2.5 goals @ 2.05

Correct Score: Benfica 3-1 @ 12.00