Benfica vs Barcelona Bet Builder Tips, Betting Preview

One of the more underrated ties in the round of 16 of the Champions League is the one between the Portuguese side Benfica and the Spanish giants Barcelona which starts out at the Estadio de Luz on Wednesday evening.

These two were involved in one of the best matches in the league phase when they met on this ground in an incredible 5-4 win for the visitors and it would make a lot of sense to expect more goals here.

Barcelona have been a scoring machine in recent times, scoring four against Real Sociedad at the weekend, the sixth time in their last 10 in all competitions where they have scored four or more.

There are goals in this Benfica side too. They scored three in the second leg against Monaco recently and have scored three or more in seven of their last nine in all competitions at home.

Expect goals to flow here with over 2.5 safely landing.

One of the key men for Barcelona in that tie was the former Leeds United attacker Raphinha. He bagged a brace in the game and is likely to be a huge threat here too.

The Brazilian has been in excellent form for Barcelona in recent times. In his last 13 matches he has had a goal contribution in nine of them and that bodes well for him here.

He has been in really strong form throughout the Champions League too. In his last seven games in this competition he has scored or assisted in six of them and in all but one of those he has contributed multiple times.

Only Serhou Guirassy has more goals or assists in the Champions League than Raphinha this term and he has played an extra round so the Barcelona man has been one of the best players in the competition and he can have a big impact here.

The star of the show in that first match between these two for Benfica was very much Vangelis Pavlidis who notched a hat trick inside 30 minutes of the contest and you sense if Benfica are to get anything here he’ll need a big night.

The Greece international is in sensational form right now. He has scored 11 goals in his last 10 matches in all competitions including in both legs of the previous round against Monaco.

Rather than ask him to score again here though, having a shot on target appeals more. In the Champions League this term he averages 2.09 shots on target per 90 minutes so one shot on target would only be half of his usual average.

He has 1.43 shots on target in the Primera Liga in Portugal too and Barcelona do give up chances so the Greek to hit the target looks a good addition to the bet builder.

These two sides are actually two of the cleanest teams in the competition. No team in the Champions League have picked up fewer cards than Barcelona this season and while Benfica are higher up the list, they have played an extra round.

Even then, Benfica only average 2.4 cards per match in the Champions League and in their domestic league they average just two per game.

Barcelona have had 10 cards in eight games in the Champions League this term, which probably isn’t a surprise when you consider that they have only picked up 43 in 26 in La Liga.

The referee appointment could have been kinder for cards with Felix Zwayer averaging around 4.5 cards per match but this is the first leg and it might not be until the second one where the desperation comes and the tackles fly in so we’ll complete the bet builder with under 4.5 cards.