Benfica vs Brentford Prediction: Goals expected in Portugal

Thomas Frank’s Brentford side travel to Portugal to take on Benfica in a pre-season friendly at the Estadio da Luz on Thursday night, with kick-off at 20:00. Both of these sides secured wins in their opening pre-season matches, but clearly this is a big step up in opposition for the Premier League outfit, who disposed of AFC Wimbledon 5-2 last time out. 

Below you can find my Benfica vs Brentford prediction, featuring team news and betting tips. 

Benfica vs Brentford Odds

Benfica are the favourites to win this one, priced at 10/11 to do so. That gives the hosts an implied win probability of 52%, while Brentford are available at 11/2 and a draw can be backed at 13/5. Over 2.5 goals is priced at 1/2 and BTTS is 4/9.

Team News

It’s always tricky to know exactly how each team will set up for pre-season friendlies, but Benfica seem to be in better shape than Brentford are right now. However, the hosts are still without Nicolas Otamendi and Leo Kokubo, who are both playing at the Olympic Games, while Angel Di Maria is yet to return from his Copa America exploits.

Big names Antonio Silva and Joao Neves are still on their post-Euros break, as are Orkun Kokcu and Alexander Bah. Goalkeepers Anatoliy Trubin and Samuel Soares played 45 minutes each in their first friendly as Roger Schmidt made 11 half-time changes, and we could see something similar here. 

Brentford are without Ivan Toney, Christian Norgaard, Mathias Jensen, Mikkel Damsgaard and Zanka after their Euro 2024 expolits. Mark Flekken remains off, while Rico Henry is still out with a long-term injury. Ethan Pinnock is back however, while Matthew Cox and Hakon Valdimarsson will share goalkeeping duties.

Football Odds

Over 3.5 goals @ 5/4

Pre-season games tend to be open and entertaining affairs, based on a few things. First of all, the amount of changes mean that there is never much defensive soliity, and strikers are in the mood for goals. Despite the absentees here, we should see a whole host of attacking chances with the quality of the two teams. 

Benfica won 3-1 in their first pre-season match, while Brentford stuck five past Wimbledon so we can expect something similar here as these two top sides meet. Attack is the order of the day in pre-season, and given Brentford don’t have a first-choice keeper, I think they could leak a few goals. 

Benfica to win and BTTS @ 21/10

The Portuguese side will want to entertain on home soil, as they gear up for a season in which the league title has to be the main target. The Bees meanwhile have a bit more time on their hands before the season starts, and are likely to improve when their main players return. Without the likes of Toney and Norgaard, Frank’s side are weakened, and Benfica should be able to get the win. 

The goalkeeping situation could also cause them difficulties as they await the return of Flekken, with youngster Cox set to get more minutes. As a result, I think we will see a fairly handsome home win for the hosts, even if the Bees are likely to find the net at some point.

Offers

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