Benfica vs Feyenoord predictions: Nothing stopping Eagles on home soil
- Benfica sit third in league phase after winning opening two games
- Feyenoord are chasing a first ever win over Benfica in Lisbon
- Recommended bet: Benfica/Benfica in Half Time/Full Time
Two former champions of Europe will meet at the Estadio da Luz in the Champions League on Wednesday as Benfica play host to Feyenoord.
Benfica are two wins from two in this season's competition, following up a narrow 2-1 success away to Crvena zvezda with a memorable 4-0 rout of Atletico Madrid on home soil.
Feyenoord's campaign did not start so strongly, they were thumped 4-0 by Bayer Leverkusen in Rotterdam, but the Dutch giants responded from that setback with a 3-2 win at Girona in their most recent European fixture.
Team news
New Benfica head coach Bruno Lage was able to rest several key players for Saturday's 2-0 victory over Pevidam in the Taca de Portugal and the likes of Angel Di Maria, Kerem Akturkoglu and Nicolas Otamendi are expected to return to the squad for this game.
Renato Sanches (muscle) and Tiago Gouveia (shoulder) are Benfica's only injury concerns, but both could still play some part.
Feyenoord remain without key forward Santiago Gimenez due to a leg injury and he sits alongside Quilindschy Hartman (knee), Calvin Stengs (knee) or Bart Nieuwkoop (unspecified) on the treatment table.
The stats
Benfica are on a nine-match unbeaten run across all competitions and have won all six of their games since former Wolves boss Lage was appointed head coach last month.
The Eagles are bidding to win their opening three matches of a Champions League campaign for the first time since 1989/90 and they ended up reaching the final that season.
Feyenoord have lost just once in 11 matches this term and they will head into this game on a three-match winning streak.
Brian Priske's side are bidding to win successive away games in the Champions League/European Cup for the first time since 1971.
This will be the first competitive meeting between these two sides for 52 years, but they did lock horns in a pre-season friendly in July, a match Benfica emphatically won 5-0.
Prediction
Benfica are flying under Lage, winning all six of their games since the 48-year-old replaced Roger Schmidt in the dugout and they will fancy their chances of beating anyone at the Estadio da Luz given their recent record at the venue.
The Portuguese giants have won nine games on the spin on their own patch and are unbeaten in 28 matches on home soil in regulation time, a run that stretches back almost a full calendar year.
That sequence only includes competitive games, but Benfica were also 5-0 winners over Feyenoord when the Dutch side visited the Estadio da Luz in pre-season, a match where the hosts were 4-0 up inside 18 minutes.
Starting home games fast has been a trait for Benfica this season.
They have been leading at half-time in each of their last four fixtures on their own patch, going on to win all of those, a scenario that could well play out again this time.
Win up to £250,000 with LiveScore 6!
Win up to £250,000 with our free-to-play game, LiveScore 6!
