Home strong Reds receive away weak Red Eagles
It’s been one hit after another in international football and just a week after the first legs in the quarter-finals, the second legs are already on the agenda. Wednesday evening will most likely be dominated by the English Premier League. The two major powers will be in action and will in all likelihood advance to the final round. At Anfield Road, hosts Liverpool and Benfica Lisbon will face off.
The second Wednesday match is Manchester City’s guest appearance at Atletico Madrid. That means the Reds and Citizens can continue to march in step, as after a wild 2-2 draw in the Premier League top-flight last weekend, the teams will face each other in the FA Cup next weekend. Liverpool have one highlight after another and accordingly Klopp will try to manage the load a little. The comfortable 3:1 advantage from the first leg will certainly play into the Reds’ favour.
Tension will probably not arise in this knockout duel, because Liverpool are too superior for that. And what’s more, the Red Eagles from Lisbon are anything but a strong away team. Accordingly, betting odds in the high single digits are offered for a prediction on the visitors in the Liverpool vs Benfica Lisbon match. The match kicks off at 9pm.
Liverpool – Statistics & current form
The football match lived up to its promise! In the top match of the English Premier League, Manchester City and Liverpool parted with a 2:2 draw. Jürgen Klopp was highly satisfied with the result after the match, after all, it postponed the question of the title winner in 2021/22. In the first half, City were clearly superior, but in the second half Liverpool gained more and more control over the game. All in all, it was a real treat, which also took the neutral fans out of their chairs.
Reds brimming with confidence
Liverpool are currently in crunch time this season and are fortunate to be operating at their absolute peak at the moment. The 2-2 draw in the league was the first loss of points after ten wins in a row in the domestic championship. As a result, the interim gap of 14 points (although a different number of games was also decisive here) was reduced to one point.
But it is not only in the domestic championship that things are going according to plan; the Klopp team is also dominating the international scene. After all, the Reds were drawn in the “group of death” with AC Milan, Porto and Atletico Madrid, which Liverpool survived with six wins. The away win in Lisbon was thus the fourth away win in this CL season – it doesn’t get any better than that.
The door to the semi-finals is more than open. Especially as Liverpool have won the last twelve knockout ties when the first leg went in the Reds’ favour. Jürgen Klopp would be reaching the final round of the top flight for the third time in his Liverpool tenure. By comparison, Liverpool have only reached the semi-finals three times in Champions League history
Convincing home record at Anfield Road
Arguments questioning Liverpool’s progress are hard to come by. Only twice in CL history have Liverpool lost a knockout game at home by a two-goal difference (most recently in 2008/09 against Chelsea). The clear quality advantage, the two-goal lead and above all the home record speak in favour of the Reds. In 2021/22, there were twelve wins and three draws in the Premier League, not a single match was lost. Alisson Becker only had to make seven saves in 15 games. Thanks to Virgil van Dijk, the defence is as strong as ever, which makes the return match between Liverpool and Benfica Lisbon a good bet that neither team will score.
Predicted Liverpool line-up:
Alisson – Robertson, Konate, van Dijk, Alexander-Arnold – Jones, Fabinho, Milner – Diaz, Firmino, Salah
Last matches played by Liverpool:
Premier League
04/10 2022 – Manchester City 2 – 2 Liverpool FC
Champions League Final
04/05 2022 – Benfica 1 – 3 Liverpool FC
Premier League
04/02 2022 – Liverpool FC 2 – 0 Watford
FA Cup
03/20 2022 – Nottingham Forest 0 – 1 Liverpool FC
Premier League
03/16 2022 – Arsenal FC 0 – 2 Liverpool FC
Benfica Lisbon – Statistics & current form
While Liverpool are still fighting for the title in the domestic championship, Benfica Lisbon’s top priority is the Champions League. The Red Eagles are having a disappointing season in the domestic championship and, after 29 of 34 league games, no longer even have a theoretical chance of winning the 38th title in history. The gap to their great rivals FC Porto is already 15 points. City rivals Sporting Lisbon are also already nine points ahead of the Red Eagles. This means Benfica will miss out on a place in the top two for the second time in a row.
Weak international away record
There will be no avoiding Wednesday night’s exit, especially when the Portuguese’s away statistics on the international stage are considered. The 1-0 away win at Ajax Amsterdam in the round of 16 was their only away win in their last nine games. Benfica Lisbon have only won two consecutive Champions League matches away from home once – in autumn 2011 under Jorge Jesus.
In addition, the Red Eagles have never won a match in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League in CL history (three draws, six defeats). Accordingly, a place in the semi-finals would be a first for head coach Nelson Verissimo’s team.
Once again, the hopes for a sensation rest on top striker Darwin Nunez. The man from Uruguay already scored in the 1-0 win against Ajax and contributed all three goals in the 3-1 win against Belenenses last weekend. That gives him 24 league goals and he has already scored five times in the Champions League. Never before in CL history has a Benfica player scored more than five CL goals in a season (Nuno Gomes also had five in 1998/99). Between Liverpool and Benfica Lisbon, odds of around 3.50 are offered for the prediction of his sixth goal.
Predicted line-up of Benfica Lisbon:
Vlachodimos – Grimaldo, Vertonghen, Otamendi, Gilberto – Weigl, Taarabt – Everton, Ramos, Rafa Silva – Darwin Nunez
Last matches played by Benfica Lisbon:
Liga Portugal
04/09 2022 – Benfica 3 – 1 Belenenses SAD
Champions League Final
04/05 2022 – Benfica 1 – 3 Liverpool FC
Liga Portugal
04/01 2022 – Braga 3 – 2 Benfica
03/20 2022 – Benfica 2 – 1 Estoril
Champions League Final
03/15 2022 – Ajax Amsterdam 0 – 1 Benfica
Liverpool – Benfica Lisbon Direct comparison / H2H record
A trend continued in last week’s first leg – a draw has never been the right choice between Liverpool and Benfica Lisbon. Yet there have already been eleven games between the two teams. However, this season’s quarter-final was the first meeting in more than a decade, with the last encounter coming in the Europa League quarter-finals in 2010. Last Tuesday, the Klopp side lived up to their role as favourites in the first leg, claiming a deserved 3-1 win at the Estadio da Luz. For Liverpool, it was their seventh win in their eleventh meeting with the Red Eagles from Lisbon.
Liverpool – Benfica Lisbon Tip
Who actually still believes in a surprise in this duel? Basically, the fair has been read and there will hardly be any suspense at Anfield Road. Jürgen Klopp will try to keep the workload as low as possible due to the next big game at the weekend (FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City at Wembley Stadium). An offensive fireworks display from Salah & Co is therefore not to be expected.
The visitors from Lisbon are forced to act offensively(er) given the starting position, but due to the strong Reds defence, a goal for Nunez & Co is anything but a given. Certainly, Liverpool have the quality to succeed at any time, but in the end, the odds for the under 2.5 bet between Liverpool and Benfica Lisbon seem a bit too high. After all, the triple bet is offered for this, which is recommended with a stake of four units. If this is too risky for you, the Under 3.5 is also recommended at interesting betting odds.
