Benfica v Club Brugge predictions: Hosts can progress with shutout success in Lisbon

Where to watch Benfica v Club Brugge

BT Sport 2, 8pm

Best bet

Benfica to win to nil
1pt 27-20 Coral

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Benfica v Club Brugge team news

Benfica
Mihailo Ristic and Julian Draxler are out while Chiquinho is a doubt.

Club Brugge
Nine-goal Andreas Skov Olsen and defender Jack Hendry are still sidelined.

Benfica v Club Brugge predictions

Benfica are in a commanding position going into the return leg of their Champions League last-16 clash with Club Brugge after winning 2-0 in Belgium three weeks ago, and they can finish the job in style at the Estadio da Luz.

The runaway Portuguese league leaders could legitimately stroll through to the quarter-finals without breaking sweat, but against a dispirited and out-of-form opponent are far more likely to complete a clearcut win double. Having beaten Scott Parker's Club Brugge to nil in the first leg, they can do the same in Lisbon on Tuesday night.

Parker's lucky to even be in Lisbon following a horror two months at the helm of the soon-to-be deposed Belgian champs. He admitted on Friday, after a woeful 3-0 loss at lowly Oostende, that the sack could come any day now, although it appears the Brugge board don't want to fire two gaffers in the same season, hardly a vote of confidence but enough to keep him in gainful employment – for now.

Brugge have won just two of 11 matches under Parker as the confidence gained from a successful Champions League group stage, in which they qualified ahead of Atletico Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen, has ebbed away.

They drew 0-0 away in both Madrid and Leverkusen and won 4-0 in Porto – the group winners – but that was then; right now they are in freefall and were before Parker was appointed at the turn of the year.

Benfica have no such worries. They topped Group H in the autumn with home-and-away 1-1 draws with Paris Saint-Germain every bit as impressive as the home-and-away wins over Juventus.

And it's at home where they are so strong. They haven't lost at the Estadio da Luz since May, which was the last time they failed to find the net there.

Roger Schmidt's men are on a run of eight straight league and European wins and are unbeaten in all competitions in 12 matches.

They are eight points clear in the league and have goals coming from everywhere. Goncalo Ramos has banged in 21 this term while 19-goal Joao Mario, who has netted five times in the Champions League, also takes penalties. He's 6-1 to score first and aiming to become the first Benfica player since Eusebio to score in six successive European games.

Key stat

Benfica have scored in all 18 home matches this season, scoring at least twice in 16 of those.

Probable teams

Benfica (4-2-3-1): Vlachodimos; Bah, A Silva, Otamendi, Grimaldo; Florentino, Aursnes; Mario, R Silva, Neres; Ramos.
Subs: Gilberto, Verissimo, Morata, Neves, Chiquinho, Musa, Guedes.

Club Brugge (4-2-3-1): Mignolet; Mata, Sylla, Mechele, Meijer; Onyedika, Nielsen; Buchanan, Vanaken, Lang; Jutgla.
Subs: Boyata, Odoi, Sandra, Sowah, Rits, Yaremchuk, Nusa.