Benfica v Rangers

Benfica vs Rangers Preview

Following recent back-to-back defeats away from home at Sporting Lisbon and Porto respectively, Thursday night's hosts, Benfica, will be looking forward to returning to the home surroundings of their Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica for this important 1st leg clash of their round of 16 in the Europa League against Scottish Premiership side, Rangers, who also suffered defeat on the weekend when they were handed a 2-1 loss at home to Motherwell.

Losses on the road at Sporting Lisbon 2-1 in the Taca de Portugal along with a comprehensive 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Porto in the domestic Primeira Liga may not be ideal preparation for this opening leg of this Europa League tie but nevertheless, Benfica did put together a solid eight-match unbeaten sequence in all competitions beforehand.

This eight-match unbeaten run included picking up six wins in the process which included a 2-1 home win against French Ligue 1 side Toulouse, while the bigger picture shows Benfica have suffered just three defeats out of their last 24 games overall in all competitions.

In addition, Benfica have lost just once in their last 15 home games overall at their Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, picking up 11 wins in the process, so Roger Schmidt's side will be in confident mood upon their return to home soil.

Both Rangers and Celtic suffered losses in the Scottish Premiership over the weekend but Rangers still occupy top spot in the table where they hold a slender two-point cushion over second placed Celtic but nevertheless a disappointing 2-1 defeat at home to lower half outfit Motherwell is also not ideal preparation for this upcoming trip to Lisbon on Thursday night.

Rangers had previously put together an excellent 10-match winning streak in all competitions, eight of which were achieved in the Scottish top flight but the step-up in quality in the Europa League may prove to be too much for Philippe Clement's side especially as The ‘Gers have managed to pick up just five wins from their last 12 Europa League ties overall.

Interestingly, four of Rangers' five wins in this recent period have been achieved on home soil at Ibrox while gaining just one victory on the road at Spanish La Liga side Real Betis which has been one of only two away wins in Rangers' last 13 outings on their travels in this competition.

Benfica v Rangers Verdict

Benfica's form on home soil should hand the advantage to the hosts for this 1st leg clash at the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica especially when considering how poor Rangers' results have been on the road in the Europa League, so a home win plus a few goals looks to be on the cards here.

Therefore, our main bet will be Benfica win @ 1.57

Other side bets worth considering:

Benfica win & Over 2.5 goals @ 2.25

Correct Score: Benfica 2-1 @ 8.00