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Benfica with new players against Anderlecht with a younger team

Benfica is opening the Champions League against Anderlecht. They played head to head many times, and Benfica is looking for motivation in the fact that this year's final takes place at Luz. There are more than five goals per match on average in Anderlecht matches this season

Benfica and Anderlech both had a direct entry in the Championships League this season. They have a few more things in common - the same number of home championship titles, the same current position in them, and the same number of wins in head to head matches. Benfica finished in the second place last year, securing a direct entry in the Champions League. They fell into the top seeding pot thanks to their good matches in the last seasons. In the last four seasons, they reached Europa League quarter-final, Europa League semi-final, Champions League quarter-final and last year Europa League final which they lost in the stoppage time against Chelsea.

In the first three rounds this season, they lost five points in the first three rounds. Looks like they started to improve in the second half against Sporting, and they confirmed it last Saturday against Paços winning 3-1. They played just like they did last season, and scored in minute 4. They scored a beautiful second goal. And finally, Garay scored the third one after Paços scored for 2-1.

Benfica did a lot of purchases this summer even though they has a smaller budget this year. Some of the new players already proved to be good, but others still have to do that since 8-10 players from the last season still make up most of the team. Siqueira will soon get the chance to play. He joined in order to fill up the left defense side position, something couldn't manage last season. 


They didn't sell almost anyone this season. Matic, who had a great responsibility last year after two defensive midfielders, Garcia and Witsel left, played great and became the best player of the whole league. Other than Markovic, Djurcic, Sulejmani, Fejsa, Siqueira, Mori and a few more joined.


Even Oscar Cardozo, who seemed to be leaving after that incident following cup final, stayed, and should be leading defense tonight together with Lima. They scored impressive 63 goals last season. Gaitano and Salvi are injured, but Benfica still have good offense. Defense could be a problem - their opponents scored in the last 21 matches (all competitions and preseason). Their back positions are a problem, even experienced defenders Luisão and Garay sometimes make mistakes. Luisão made one of them in the last round too.


Coach Jesus has been their manager for five consecutive seasons. He is optimistic about tonight's match. 


- The match will be a tie, which makes the win even more important. Experience shows that clubs with ten or more points get in the next stage. Anderlecht are Belgian champions and have great players like Mitrovic and Suáreza. We're prepared for a tough match.


He couldn't avoid being asked about the final at Luz:


- It's just a coincidence. We are motivated to do our best in the Champions League for as long as possible. We couldn't be more motivated.


Rúben Amorim, Sílvio, Gaitán and Salvio, whose injury is very serious, won't play tonight.



Biglia, Mbokani, Jovanovic, De Sutter, Jakovenko and some others left Anderlech before the season. Since they weren't able to buy the players they wanted, they turned to creating a team with their own young players. Midfielder Milivojevic, defender N'Sakal and striker Mitrovic are there to make the base stronger. They have a young team who wants to prove itself, but not enough international experience. How will these young players cope in tough Champions League games?



Anderlech destroyed Menchel last Saturday 5-0 in the championship. They were in a 4-0 lead after only 40 minutes.


Suarez and Mitrovic are responsible for that win. Mitrovic scored twice and Suarez assisted twice and scored once. Mitrovic was great even in his first match or Anderlecht two weeks ago, proving his club made a good decision by bringing him in. He works well with Suarez and they make a great offence duo.


Strikers Bruno and Acheampongu (both 19 years old) play the wing positions. 22-year-old Milivojevic is the organizer of the game. This defensive midfielder joined a month ago and already scored four times. De Zeeuw and Praet are also there. Praet has a lot of experience and De Zeeuw finally became as good as he can be.


N'Skala and Gillet are defenders, and Gillet can even score. 


Center half Kouyate leads the defense. He is fast and reliable, but he will probably join one of the English clubs in the winter. 


After seven rounds, Anderlecht is fourth in the championship, with 15 points, 6 points behind leading Standard. What makes Anderlecht special is their ability to score easily. On average they score almost 4 goals per match. Since they also concede quite a few, the average of goals conceded during their matches is 5,15.

Following a problematic preseason due to a series of poor defensive performances, Benfica have entered the new championship in a similar way, but they are starting to show glimpses of the playing style that brought them wins over respectable European teams in recent seasons, especially in home games. Over the last season alone, Celtic and Spartak fall at Benfica's statium in the CL, and Leverkusen, Bordeaux and Fenerbahce followed in the EL during springtime. All these teams are stronger than Anderlecht, who should be the right opponent for them to continue raising their form after improved performances against Sporting (in the second half) and Pacos, reminiscent of their recent seasons' dynamic and attacking play that brought them some good European achievements ever since Jorge Jesus took charge. Anderlecht are Group C underdogs with a rather young team that lacks experience at the European level, and playing away is not their strong suit. This summer, most of the important players have left the club, so it's small wonder they are already trailing six points behind Standard. They've displayed a respectable goalscoring ability in the championship, as well as some defensive errors. None of Anderlecht center backs are over 23 years of age. They lack the necessary European experience and I believe that they will not be able to stop the home side's forward line led by Cardozo and Lima, who jointly scored 63 goals last season. In a match where the home team is at least a class above the visitors, with both teams better on the attack and relatively weak in defense, the advantage of this bet is that Benfica can take care of the over on their own, if their defense starts playing well by some miracle. I do not doubt their win at all, so 1.5-1.55 on the Eagles seems like a good combo material, and anything above 2.10 on an over win is a value bet.