Maccabi Haifa vs Benfica Predictions

• Benfica need to win and hope PSG drop points or overturn a large goal-difference deficit to win Group H.
• Maccabi Haifa have lost four of their five Champions League games this season and went down 7-2 at PSG last week.
• Benfica have won four of their last six UCL away games and kept clean sheets in five of their last ten on the road in this competition.

Greens can’t hold in-form Eagles

Benfica will look for a strong continuance to what has been an excellent Champions League campaign so far when they travel to Israel to face Maccabi Haifa in the denouement to Group H.  The Portuguese pacesetters have a shot at winning the group, but it will be difficult for them to overturn the four-goal deficit they need with PSG looking just as strong going into their final game at Juventus.

But a win is a win and there are financial inducements attached to every point gained in this competition which, for a club with Benfica’s finances, should ensure they prioritise this game over the following Sunday’s league trip to Estoril. The Eagles’ Champions League away form has been excellent for a while and they are a must bet to win this at around 4/6 generally.

Roger Schmidt’s side have won four of their last six away games in the competition and regularly keep clean sheets on the road. The Likes of Barcelona, Liverpool, Ajax, PSG and Juventus have all failed to beat Benfica on their own patch, so the Greens are likely to be well short of the required quality here.

Benfica can earn 2-0 away win 

Barak Bakhar’s men got the stench of a 7-2 tonking on Paris last week out of their system with a 3-1 home victory over mid-table Ashdod at the weekend to maintain their domestic leadership, but they again failed to shut out inferior opponents.

Having conceded 15 goals in five UCL group contests it is fair to assume they are unlikely to blank Benfica here and a 2-0 away win seems most appropriate given it was a comfortable achievement for the Lisbon giants when they mate at the Luz in September. Benfica mustered 16 attempts that day, but most were from outside the area as the Greens sat deep.

Whether they will be moved to be more ambitious here could depend on the state of the other game in the group with the possibility existing that both teams could play cagily in the early exchanges. Benfica’s quality should shine through at some stage, however, and their record of 14 goals scored and only three conceded in nine away league and Champions League games this term make a persuasive case for a 2-0 scoreline here.