Benfica vs. Liverpool – Champions League Quarterfinals (Tuesday, April 5)

Ahead of the start of the Champions League quarterfinal stage, Liverpool is the second favorite to win this competition with the price of 3.00. To get a shot at the title, Jurgen Klopp’s team first needs to go past Benfica.

Oddsmakers seem to think that won’t be a problem – the odds on Liverpool advancing to the next stage of the Champions League are 15.00.

Knowing all that, it seems that the big question regarding the Benfica vs. Liverpool quarterfinal is not who will advance, but whether we’ll know everything before the second leg. As a reminder, just eight days after the clash in Lisbon, the two meet again, but this time, at Anfield.  

As Liverpool has only one defeat at home this season, it looks likely that Benfica isn’t going to be able to win next week. But what about this week? Can Benfica give Liverpool players a run for their money at Estadio da Luz this Tuesday? Let’s find out!

Even if Liverpool fails to beat Benfica on Tuesday, the Reds will still have a backup plan ready for next week when they play in front of their own crowd.

Nevertheless, bookmakers obviously think Liverpool will do its job early. With the odds of 1.40 at 10Bet, Jurgen Klopp and his boys are expected to get themselves an easy win.

Winning by a big margin is probably on their mind as it would allow them to focus more on two other competitions in which they’re chasing the title – the English Premier League and FA Cup.

Playing at home could be a major advantage for Benfica. It’s because a big majority of 64,642 fans at Estadio da Luz will be rooting for the home team. Benfica’s fans are famously loyal and super-passionate, especially when their boys are playing in the Champions League.

This explains why Benfica was able to blow-out mighty Barcelona 3-0 in the group phase of the competition.

Benfica also has a great record against Liverpool when it comes to the matches played in Portugal. In fact, the Eagles won each of their previous three duels played in Lisbon.

The bad news is that the most recent of those was played exactly 12 years and four days ago. Benfica’s legend Oscar Cardozo scored twice that day, both times from the penalty spot.

Cardozo might no longer be in the club, but Benfica has some really good players in 2022. Darwin Nunez is their best player this season with 27 goals across all competitions. That’s 14 goals more than Benfica’s second-best scorer, Rafa Silva.

Liverpool has a fantastic chance to win four trophies this season. The Reds have already won one – the 2022 EFL.

The other three competitions they can win are the Champions League, as well as two domestic ones, namely, the English Premier League and the FA Cup. To be able to focus more on those two competitions, they need a big win against Benfica on Tuesday.

Now that you know Jurgen Klopp’s team has the motivation to win, you’re probably wondering whether they got the skillset needed to make their plan come true. If that’s your question, my answer is: yes!

Evidence of this is that the Reds from Merseyside are coming off a 2-0 win over Watford, which was their 10^th straight victory in the Premier League.

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10 consecutive @premierleague wins ? pic.twitter.com/2GsHbPna68

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) April 2, 2022

As if that’s not impressive, here’s another fun fact for you – Liverpool has scored at least a goal in all but two games in 2022.

Furthermore, this team has conceded just eight goals in the 20 games they’ve played so far this year. That’s 0.4 goals conceded per game on average.

Liverpool is going to win this game, I’m sure of that. However, we could see Benfica score at least once. Not only is Benfica playing at home, but its opponent has some injury worries at the back, albeit not too serious.

If that’s going to happen, the man who’s most likely to pull the trigger is Darwin Nunez. The 22-year-old scoring machine is trying to showcase his talent to scouts and agents from the Premier League. According to rumors, both Arsenal and Manchester United are thinking about making a bid worth over $100 million for his signature.

I think it wouldn’t be crazy to back Nunez to score anytime, especially because the odds on that market are ~4.20 at top soccer betting sites.