For our Club Brugge vs. Benfica prediction, we're going for a 1-1 draw.
We have an intriguing Champions League last 16 tie in Belgium on Wednesday night as Club Brugge host Benfica.
Club Brugge reached the Champions League last 16 after finishing 2nd in a group containing Porto, Bayer Leverkusen and Atletico Madrid.
Brugge were one of the surprise packages of the group stage with most punters fancying them to drop out of what looked like a competitive group.
They enter this game amidst a fairly poor run of form having won only one of their last five matches in the league. Granted, they've drawn four so they're still unbeaten in that time period but they're by no means pulling up trees.
They've had a pretty underwhelming season on the whole domestically as they currently find themselves in 4th place, a whopping twenty points behind leaders Gent.
They're be hoping that matters little here, though, as their form in Europe has belied their poor domestic showings so they'll be confident of an improved performance here.
If they're honest with themselves, virtually no fans of the Belgian team expected to reach this stage of the competition and they will now find themselves rubbing their hands at the prospect of a knockout tie against Benfica. Not that the Portuguese side are bad, but it's one of the kindest draws they could've been given and they have a serious chance to go through here.
Benfica reached the Champions League round of 16 by topping a group containing PSG, Juventus and Maccabi Haifa.
The Portuguese team were a revelation in the group stage and, like their opponents, sprung a huge surprise by topping a group containing two European giants.
They enter this game amidst a good run of form having won four and lost one of their last five matches in all competitions, with the sole loss being a penalty shootout defeat against Sporting Braga in the Taca de Portugal.
Benfica are now without star man Enzo Fernandez, who departed to Chelsea in a whopping £120m deal on deadline day. The midfielder was talismanic for Benfica and while they have plenty of quality on other departments his absence will drastically reduce their chances of a deep run in this tournament.
These two sides have never met competitively before and this should be a sneaky excellent tie given its competitiveness. Benfica are favourites but this one could go either way, and the result here will likely be crucial with both sides not wanting to get off on the wrong foot.
Don’t forget to check out the rest of our previews, tips and offers for this weekend’s action.
