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Benfica will host Maccabi Haifa at the Estádio da Luz on Tuesday night in the opening week of the 2022-23 UEFA Champions League campaign.
The Portuguese outfit have enjoyed a stellar start to life under new boss Roger Schmidt. They were drawn against FC Midtjylland in their first qualification tie, beating the Danish side 7-2 on aggregate before being drawn against Dynamo Kyiv in the playoffs and winning 5-0 on aggregate.
Benfica have won five of their league games this season and sit atop the Primeira Liga standings. They will be looking to take that momentum into Europe on Tuesday.
Maccabi Haifa began their qualification campaign against Olympiacos, winning 5-1 on aggregate before picking up a 4-2 aggregate win over Apollon Limassol and a 5-2 aggregate win over Red Star Belgrade in the subsequent qualifying rounds.
The visitors' last appearance in the Champions League group stages came back in the 2009-10 campaign and they will be looking to mark their return to the competition on a positive note.
Benfica vs Maccabi Haifa Head-to-Head
Tuesday's game will mark the first-ever meeting between Benfica and Maccabi Haifa. The visitors are winless in their two games against Portuguese opposition and will be looking to end that streak this week.
Benfica Form Guide (All Competitions): W-W-W-W-W
Maccabi Haifa Form Guide (All Competitions): W-W-W-D-W
Benfica vs Maccabi Haifa Team News
Benfica
Joao Victor and Lucas Verissimo are both injured and will not feature for the hosts this week. All other players are fit and in contention for selection.
Injured: Joao Victor, Lucas Veríssimo
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Maccabi Haifa
Raz Meir and Mahmoud Jaber have both been out of action for weeks due to injuries and will remain out of the squad when the visitors travel to Portugal this week.
Injured: Raz Meir, Mahmoud Jaber
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Benfica vs Maccabi Haifa Predicted XI
Benfica Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Odysseas Vlachodimos (GK); Gilberto, Nicolas Otamendi, Felipe Morato, Alejandro Grimaldo; Enzo Fernandez, Florentino Luis; David Neres, Rafa Silva, Joao Mario; Goncalo Ramos
Maccabi Haifa Predicted XI (4-3-3): Josh Cohen; Daniel Sundgren, Bogdan Planic, Sean Goldberg; Pierre Cornud; Neta Lavi, Mohammad El Fazaz, Tjaronn Chery; Dean David, Frantzdy Pierrot, Omer Atzili
Benfica vs Maccabi Haifa Prediction
Benfica are in brilliant form at the moment and are on an incredible 15-game winning streak. They have won their last nine games on home turf and will fancy their chances ahead of this one.
The Israeli outfit are also playing well at the moment, winning their last three games on the bounce and going unbeaten in their last five. The sheer gulf in class and quality should, however, see the home side win here.
Prediction: Benfica 3-1 Maccabi Haifa
