Rangers v Benfica

Rangers vs Benfica Preview

Whilst Rangers would have been pleased with gaining a draw in the 1st leg of this Round of 16 Champions League tie away from home at Benfica, The ‘Gers must be wondering about what might have been as the Scottish side held a 2-1 lead at the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica but were pegged back by conceding an own goal, while Benfica will be happy to remain on level terms ahead of this return leg in Glasgow on Thursday night.

Following that eventful 2-2 draw in Lisbon, Rangers returned to winning ways in the Scottish top flight last Sunday with a solid 2-0 win away from home at Hibernian which also maintained Rangers' position at the top of the Scottish Premiership table where they hold a slender two-point lead over their arch-rivals, Celtic, but their attention will now turn to the European front for this return leg.

The hosts have produced some encouraging results in recent times as The Gers have won 11 of their last 13 games overall in all competitions and suffered just the single defeat within this period, so Philippe Clement's side will be brimming with confidence ahead of this home fixture.

Goals for both sides again looks favourable as five of Rangers' last 10 home ties in the Europa League have produced goals for both teams.

Benfica also registered a win on the weekend in their respective domestic top flight in the Portuguese Primeira Liga when they recorded a 3-1 home win against Estrela as the visitors returned to winning ways after enduring a three-game sequence without a win in all competitions.

Benfica had previously stumbled to losses at the hands of Sporting Lisbon and Porto, the latter being a particularly heavy 5-0 thrashing at the hands of their old rivals which may just be in the backs of the Benfica players' minds but the bigger picture shows the Portuguese side have been dealt just these two losses in their last 12 games in all competitions.

Seven wins within these last 12 matches should also give Benfica plenty of reason to be upbeat about their chances of grabbing a result at Ibrox on Thursday night while results on the European front, particularly the Europa League, indicate that the goals market looks a decent bet here as seven of Benfica's last 10 ties overall in this competition have resulted in both teams hitting the back of the net.

Interestingly, there have also been six draws within Benfica's last 10 ties with five of these six stalemates also being score-draws.

Rangers v Benfica Verdict

Rangers and Benfica have played each other on three previous occasions and each of these previous three encounters have resulted with both teams scoring so this trend may well continue on Thursday night.

Therefore, our main bet will be BTTS Yes @ 1.57

Other side bets worth considering:

Draw @ 3.75

Correct Score: 1-1 @ 7.50