UEFA Champions League: Benfica vs. Dynamo Kyiv Preview, Odds, Prediction

Benfica hosts Dynamo Kyiv in the rematch of the UEFA Champions League playoffs. The Eagles have a 2-0 lead from the opening clash and are one step away from the group stage, but they don’t want to risk anything and underestimate the rivals. Even though they have a big edge, the Portuguese powerhouse decided to reschedule this weekend’s domestic league fixture and prepare for the Ukrainian unit. Meanwhile, Dynamo didn’t play any games because their domestic championship was suspended. They are in a tough position, but we’ve seen them eliminating Fenerbache on the road earlier, so why not try another miracle?

Preview

Benfica (-250) has ten straight wins since the start of the preseason, in all but one of them scoring at least two goals. Their attack is superb, and as we’ve said before, it appears that Darwin Nunez’s departure didn’t have any negative influence on this unit.

A very important thing for Roger Schmidt’s team is that the defense started playing at a high level as well, keeping three clean sheets in the previous four events. With the already high confidence coming from the attack’s superb form, this is one more plus for the Eagles.

Benfica played two competitive games at home this year, winning both, to Midtjylland and Arouca, in both netting at least four times and allowing just one goal on the other end. That tells enough about their style of play at La Luz.

Dynamo Kyiv (+600) ran into a wall in the previous game, experiencing inferiority and inability to solve any of the problems put ahead of them. Mircea Lucescu tried to change the course of the game on several occasions, substituting or switching the tactics, but nothing really helped his crew.

The Ukrainian team has quite an interesting record in the last few games. They beat Fener on the road, 1-2, after extra times, then lost to Everton, 3-0 in a friendly match, before winning against Sturm Graz, 1-0. They lost the regular part of the encounter in Austria with the same result, yet turned the situation in the extra times, scoring twice and advancing to the next stage.

Dynamo lost the last meeting, which was against Benfica, 0-2. They play tough and dull football, and in the previous five competitive events, we didn’t see over 2.5 hits during the regular 90 minutes.

Latest News

For the moment, neither side has trouble with injured or suspended players, and we will update this section if anything happens until the kick-off.

Head to Head Games

The last game was 0-2 for Benfica, who seized control of the field early on. Both goals took place in the first half, and there was nothing Dynamo could do to save itself from the defeat.

These two teams played in the UCL group stage last year, with Benfica winning at home, 2-0, and then recording 0-0 in Ukraine.

Prediction

There isn’t too much to think of here because Benfica has a far superior team than the Ukrainians. The Eagles will win this one and do it by at least a two-goal margin.

Pick: Benfica -1.5 +105