Benfica managed to secure a 2-1 lead over Marseille in the first leg, but will now head to France and try to perform up to their usual standard. But their French opponents, despite going through a rough patch recently, have previously shown that they can make life difficult for any team visiting the Stade Vélodrome.
Olympique Marseille Team News
When Marseille’s bad performance in recent weeks is pointed out, we must look at it as atrocious. The French team has lost all of their last 5 competitive games. This run of sub-par form started with the team’s visit to Spain, where despite losing 3-1 to Villarreal, they managed to go through to the quarter-finals of the Europa League. Since then it has been only rock bottom for Olympique Marseille, as the team went on to lose their next 4 fixtures, the latest of which was their first-leg defeat to Benfica. But even with this bad form, we must point out that Jean-Louis Gasset’s team does maintain a good home record this season and their continental games tend to feature lots of goals with all of their last 5 Europa League fixtures seeing over 2.5 goals.
Benfica Team News
While Marseille boasts good form at home, Benfica can claim that their away form in continental competitions has been stellar – just 2 losses from their last 15 European away games. And the team might try to prioritize UEFA competitions instead of the domestic title, seeing as how their chances for the latter are slim at best. Benfica’s games in the Europa League also tend to feature a healthy amount of goals as 3 of their 5 fixtures from the competitions have been marked with over 2.5 goals. Unlike Marseille, Benfica will enter the second leg of this clash in rather good form with just 2 losses from their last 10 competitive games.
Head-to-Head-Games
The first match from this quarter-final clash was the only competitive game these two teams have played since 2010. During that year’s edition of the Europa League Marseille and Benfica also men in the knockout stages, with the Portuguese managing to eliminate their French opposition after a 1-1 home draw and a 1-2 away victory in France.
Olympique Marseille – Benfica Betting Prediction
Marseille has lost all of their last 5 fixtures, two of which are from the Europa League. Despite that, the team maintains a good record at home. But Benfica can counter that with a positive away form in continental competitions. Their lead is also slim – just 1 goal, which leaves the game at the Stade Vélodrome open. Given the fact that Marseille’s Europa League games tend to feature a healthy amount of goals, I am going to go with over 2.5 goals in this game. They will also need to look for goals to keep afloat and Benfica will certainly take advantage of the extra space. To me, this game has all the right circumstances for an over 2.5-goal affair.
Betting Tip: Over 2.5 Goals
Bookmaker: BC.Game
Odds: 1.72
BC.Game
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