Each year, the Round of 16 has one matchup involving two “weaker” teams, and it seems this season, Brugge and Benfica are that pair. Though, the way these units played throughout the group stage, calling them weaker and underestimating their power would be very stupid and unprofessional. Brugge managed to progress from the group with another Portuguese representative, Porto, Atletico Madrid, and Leverkusen, while Benfica ended first in its assembly ahead of PSG, Juventus and Maccabi Haifa.
Preview
Club Brugge (+290) didn’t lose in the past six games, but the Belgian champs have just one win and five ties during that stretch. Yes, you’ve read it well, five ties. What is even worse is that in the past nine affairs, Bruge won that single one, and recorded six ties and two defeats.
Therefore, we can say that Scott Parker’s crew isn’t in good shape and that he needs to find a way to pull themselves together before this contest.
Over the past years, this team usually played games with lots of goals, and more or less, that is the case now. Only one in the recent nine contests hadn’t seen both sides scoring. What might be the reason for the result struggle is that Brugge’s offense can’t reach the pace from the start of the year once it easily netted two or three times during 90 minutes.
Benfica (-105) snapped its seven-game defeatless streak, with them losing after penalties in the quarterfinals of the Portuguese Taca de Portugal. Prior to that clash, the Eagles won six times and had one draw.
Roger Schmidt established a very good system that provides not only excellent results, but also creates expensive players, which are later sold for astronomic prices. Enzo Fernandez is the most recent example of it. We can safely say that the German became the most profitable head coach in Benfica’s history.
Regarding the efficiency of the games, Benfica’s defense is doing pretty well in the domestic championship. They haven’t allowed a goal in six of the past seven events, while on the other side, the attackers have regularly scored at least twice. Though, they haven’t beaten Braga nor Sporting, whom they have faced in recent times.
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Andreas Skov Olsen and Ferran Jutgla are injured, and that’s a complicated situation for Parker.
The only one who won’t be playing for the Eagles is the starting striker, Goncalo Ramos, the scorer of a hat-trick at the World Cup against Switzerland in the round of 16.
Prediction
These two units have never played before, and this is their first official clash.
Prediction
Both units have certain problems with attackers, with essential guys sidelined due to injuries. Bruge is not in good shape, so we don’t think the Belgian champs have the power to win, and moreover, we don’t think they will score either. Because of that, Benfica or tie would be our pick here, with the current odds on that -400. The profit isn’t high, but the risk isn’t as well. If you want to take some risk, go with the guests winning -105.
Pick: Benfica or Draw -400
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Nikola Velickovic is a sports journalist who loves to write and read on all sports. Nikola contributes both news updates and functions as a sports breaking news writer at WagerBop.
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Email: nikola@wagerbop.com
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