Benfica vs Fenerbahce Prediction: Clean sheet kings Benfica can win to nil at 7/4

Benfica host Fenerbahçe in the second leg of the last stage of qualifying for the Champions League on Wednesday night after the first leg ended 0-0, kick off 20:00 in Lisbon and shown live on TNT Sports 2.  

Jamie Pacheco talks you through the team news, form and his best bets ahead of this one, made up of 7/4 and 9/2 chances as he takes you through his Benfica vs Fenerbahçe Predictions...

*You can check out all of the Football Odds we offer over at betfred.com

Benfica  

Benfica will be happy with their work in the first leg, avoiding defeat in their 0-0 draw after going down to ten men in the 70th minute when midfielder Florentino was dismissed for two bookings in quick succession.   

It was a bit of a backs-to-the-wall job for those last 20 minutes, which is perfectly understandable given the circumstances, but Bruno Lage did a good job of not allowing his team to panic and they managed to keep possession well in the last few minutes, rather than just booting it forward.  

There's no love lost between Lage and José Mourinho by the way, for whatever reason, adding an extra element of spice to the occasion.  

Karem Arturkoglu was believed to be on his way to Fenerbahçe but the fact he surprisingly started the first leg has probably put an end to any chance of a move happening.  

Benfica played a surprisingly strong side in a 3-0 win over Tondela at the weekend given what a big game this is to them, but I guess it's only the start of the season and players are still fresh, with squad rotation only coming into place a bit later on in the season.  

Fenerbahçe  

Jose Mourinho may feel he missed a great chance to be 1-0 up in this tie given they were arguably the better side in the first leg and played against ten men for 20 minutes or so, as we know.  

But he was quick to point out that his side are in good health going into the second leg.  To which Lage replied that in that case, Benfica were in even better health. Some of that may have been lost in translation but you get the point that these two really don't get on.  

They started their domestic season with a solid 3-1 win at home to Kocaelispor with Talisca starting the match and scoring the third. Given that and the impact he had off the bench last week, he may well get another game here.   

Benfica vs Fenerbahce Odds

That draw was a good win for us last time out at 5/2 and this time round it's 11/4, implied probability of 26.7%. Benfica look a tad short at 4/7 (63%) for the straight win with the visitors 4/1, 20%.  

A better option may be to back them to win to nil at a far bigger 7/4. That's the way all but one (last week's draw in Turkey) of their six matches have gone this season, meaning of course that they're yet to concede in six, which is pretty impressive stuff at this level.   

Nicolas Otamendi isn't getting any younger, but that sort of experience goes a long way while keeper Anatoliy Trubin has been in fantastic form.  

Talisca is a dangerous player on his day and the equally unpredictable Jhon Duran has some class about him, but 7/4 is a decent price about something that has happened 5/6 times this season. 

To Win Tie  

Benfica are just 2/7 to win the tie, which is the same thing as saying 'to qualify'. Or to put it yet another way, who's going to be in the Champions League draw in a few days' time?

Mourinho's men are 5/2 and that may appeal to some who feel this is the sort of situation tailor-made for Mourinho's magic. But remember that away goals don't count anymore so 1-1 or 2-2 means extra time and potentially penalties, rather than the Turkish side going through on away goals.  

Anytime Goalscorers  

The likes of Vangelis Pavlidis (6/5) and Franjo Ivanovic (7/5) are the most likely scorers for Benfica, but they're short enough.  

Instead, I'm going to chance the incredibly consistent Fredrik Aursnes at 9/2. The man can play in just about any position on the pitch, and often does, which alongside with his work rate and attitude make him a manager's dream.  

He's mostly operated on the right side wing this season almost in an old-school 4-4-2 and playing a bit further up the field than usual has resulted in two goals in five games, including one at the weekend. That looks a decent price for such a good player who should have at least one decent chance to score before the game is over.  

Jamie Pacheco Football P/L 2025 (Excludes 3-3-3 column):  

• Points Staked: 3.5

• Points Returned: 5.75  

• Current P/L: +2.25   

Jamie Pacheco predominantly covers Cricket and European Football for us at Betfred Insights. You can check out his Football Betting Tips, along with those from the rest of the team, at our Football hub page...