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Benfica will welcome Rangers to Estadio da Luz for the first leg of their UEFA Europa League round-of-16 tie on Thursday.
The home side are coming into the game on the back of a debilitating 5-0 defeat away to Porto in the Primeira Liga. Galeno's first-half brace put the Dragons on their way, while Wendell, Pepe and Danny Namaso added second-half strikes to end their visitors' 22-game unbeaten run in the league. Benfica skipper Nicolas Otamendi received his marching orders in the 61st minute.
Rangers, meanwhile, also suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at home to Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership, Thelonius Bair and Dan Casey scored either side of James Tavernier's 60th-minute penalty to inspire the win.
The Gers booked their spot at this stage of the Europa League having finished top of Group C. Benfica dropped from the UEFA Champions League and claimed a 2-1 aggregate victory over Toulouse in the playoff round.
Benfica vs Rangers Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- Both sides were drawn in the group stage of the 2020-21 Europa League, with both games ending in 3-3 and 2-2 draws.
- Benfica have won six and drawn three of 12 games against Scottish opposition in continental games.
- Rangers have failed to win any of their last nine European away games (seven losses).
- Nine of Benfica's last 10 games across competitions have produced three goals or more.
- Each of Rangers' last eight competitive games featured goals in both halves.
- Benfica have won just one of their last five European home games (three losses).
Benfica vs Rangers Prediction
Benfica have lost consecutive games to Sporting Lisbon and Porto, putting their title aspirations domestically in jeopardy. They are aiming to avoid losing three successive games for the first time this season. Roger Schmidt's side also had a UEFA Champions League campaign to forget before narrowly booking their spot in the Europa League group stage.
Rangers, for their part, also suffered a harrowing defeat in their quest to win the Scottish Premiership. They started the calendar year like a house on fire, winning the first 10 games in the year across competitions before Saturday's loss.
The two sides are attack-minded and this could be a game with plenty of goalscoring chances created. We are backing the hosts to claim a multi-goal victory with goals at both ends.
Prediction: Benfica 3-1 Rangers
Benfica vs Rangers Betting Tips
Tip 1 - Benfica to win
Tip 2 - Both teams to score
Tip 3 - Over 2.5 goals
Tip 4 - Benfica to score over 1.5 goals
