Benfica vs Rangers: How to Watch, Betting Odds & Prediction

(Featured image: Alamy Images)

Written by: Findlay Brown

Scottish title contenders Rangers travel to the Estádio da Luz to take on Portuguese champions Benfica for the first leg of their Europa League Round of 16 tie.

The two sides last met in the Europa League Group Stage in 2020. Both matches ended even in 2-2 and 3-3 draws.

How to Watch Benfica vs Rangers in the UK:

UK viewers can watch the game live on TNT Sports 1. Kick-off is set for 8pm UK time. 

Recent Form:

Both sides suffered shock defeats at the weekend as 2022 finalists Rangers were beaten 2-1 at home by Motherwell. Benfica meanwhile will be desperate to regain the confidence of their fans after they were hammered 5-0 at Porto.

Benfica:

Victories over Vizela and Portimonense in February were followed by the heavy defeat in Porto at the weekend. The loss leaves Benfica in second place, a point behind leaders Sporting Lisbon. 

Roger Schmidt's side qualified for the round-of-sixteen with a 2-1 aggregate victory over Toulouse in the play-off round after finishing third in group D of the Champions League. 

 

Rangers:

Rangers meanwhile had been in excellent form of late until the loss at Ibrox on Saturday. They will be looking to return to form as soon possible, having beaten Kilmarnock (2-1), Hearts (5-0), St Johnstone (3-0) and Ross County (3-1) in their four previous outings heading into the match against Motherwell.

Despite a rocky start (including defeat to Aris Limassol), Rangers eventually topped Group C which also included Sparta Prague and Real Betis.

Team News:

Rangers face something of a mini-crisis with Oscar Cortes and Ross McCausland both going down against Motherwell. The pair join a swelling injury list that already includes Todd Cantwell, Abdallah Sima, Alex Lowry and Kieran Dowell. Forward Danilo is also recovering from a long-term injury. Tom Lawrence and Rabbi Matondo are returning from injuries but are unlikely to be ready for the fixture.

Juan Bernat is Benfica’s only absence of note. His return is expected in April.

Betting Odds:

Benfica head into the game strong favourites, with 10Bet offering the Portuguese side to win at 3/5 (an implied probability of 62.5%). A Rangers victory comes in at 5/1 with BetMGM (carrying an implied probability of 16.67%). 

10Bet offer the draw at 10/3 (an implied probability of 23.08%).

Prediction:

OddsNow expect the pair to collide in a high-scoring game with both sides finding the back of the net

OddsNow's Pick: BTTS with 3.5+ goals (4.04/1 @ Betfair)

 

 

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