Benfica vs Marseille Predictions

• Benfica have never lost a home game in the Europa League (W22, D6).
• Marseille have managed just one away win in Europe this season (D2, L3).
• L’OM have lost their last three away games.

Benfica looking to make home comforts count

Benfica and Marseille meet in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final clash in Lisbon on Thursday, and home advantage may prove decisive.

The Portuguese outfit head into the game after back-to-back disappointments against city rivals Sporting as their Taca de Portugal hopes were extinguished before they then lost a Lisbon derby in the league, missing out on a chance to take top spot.

Benfica will be looking to bounce back on Thursday and they look well placed to seize a first leg advantage as Marseille have been poor travellers this season.

Marseille in a slump

Marseille saw a five-game winning streak ended as they went down 3-1 at Villarreal in the previous round of this competition, progressing 5-3 on aggregate, and have lost all three of their Ligue 1 assignments since.

L’OM have been poor travellers all season as they have just one away win in Europe in six attempts and they have the worst road record in France’s top tier. They have also lost their last three away games, and are coming up against a Benfica side who have never lost a home game in this competition – winning 22 of their 28 games.

A home win is a confident selection here, but that doesn’t mean the game will be entirely one-sided and a 2-1 victory for Benfica is the correct score prediction.

As Aguias have scored exactly two goals in each of their two Europa League games at the Estádio da Luz since dropping out of the Champions League and they’ve only scored more than twice in one of their last nine goals across all competitions. Benfica have also managed just two clean sheets in their last seven at home and L’OM have scored in seven of their last nine games and in four of their five Europa League trips, so they can at least keep themselves well in this tie ahead of the return leg in France.

Benfica’s Rafa Silva has two goals in his last five games and has impressed in Europe this term with three goals in 10 games across all competitions (one in two in the Europa League) so he looks a good anytime scorer option.

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