Benfica vs Marseille Prediction & Match Preview

• Benfica have not kept a clean sheet in any of five European games on home turf this season.
• Marseille looked impressive in wins over Shakhtar Donetsk and Villarreal in the previous two Europa League rounds.
• Benfica shipped two goals in each of the last two domestic clashes with Sporting CP.

Tough schedule will continue for both Benfica and Marseille this week. The two teams will come across each other in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League quarter-final on Thursday evening at Estadio da Luz. Neither outfit will enter the tie in high spirits. They’ve both suffered tough domestic defeats in recent weeks.

A 1-2 road loss to Sporting Lisbon in the huge city derby has drastically halted Benfica’s push for the domestic title. The Eagles are now four points shy of Sporting Lisbon at the top of the Primeira Liga standings. To make things worse, Sporting have a game in hand. Sporting have also eliminated Benfica from Taca da Portugal 4-3 on aggregate thanks to last week’s 2-2 draw at Luz.

Marseille suffered their fourth straight loss across competitions on Friday. They fell 1-3 away at Lille. Jean Louis Gasset’s are thus slowly losing the battle for European positions in the domestic league. The Phocians dropped to 8th place in the Ligue 1 table after the latest loss.

These two teams met each other in the last-16 round of the UEFA Europa League back in the 2009/10 season. Benfica advanced 3-2 on aggregate courtesy of a 2-1 road win in the return leg at Stade Velodrome.

Since then, Benfica have picked up a win and a draw in two exhibitions against Marseille. Both teams scored in three of the previous four H2H meetings.

Benfica vs Marseille Prediction

Benfica have been far from impressive this season in Europe. A dismal campaign in the group stage of the Champions League was followed by a couple of unconvincing knockout stage ties against the likes of Toulouse and Rangers in Europa League. The latest consecutive failures against bitter city rivals Sporting CP in both Taca da Portugal and Primeira Liga will also leave a mark.

Marseille have not been on the best run of form either but we by no means see them as the underdogs in this matchup. The value is with the visitors to leave Portugal unbeaten at the odds of 1.90.

The pick you can hardly make a mistake with is Both Teams To Score at the 1.66 odds. Benfica shipped two goals in each of successive clashes with Sporting Lisbon within the last ten days. Marseille conceded at least two goals in four consecutive affairs across competitions. Lastly, both teams were on target in all but one of the previous four head-to-head encounters between these counterparts.

Steffen Schmidt- April 9, 2024

Benfica vs Marseille Betting Tips

Marseille to win or draw

OK

	2.01 Odds
	1.91 Odds

Both Teams Score

OK

	1.68 Odds
	1.67 Odds

Correct Score: Draw 1-1

OK

	7.00 Odds
	6.50 Odds