BENFICA v BESIKTAS
Tuesday 13th September 2016 – Kickoff: 2045hrs
Football – Europe – Champions League Betting Tips
The group stages of the Champions League will get underway on Tuesday night and I have a couple of picks to kick things off, starting with hosts Benfica taking on Turkish side Besiktas at their Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica in Lisbon.
Last season, Benfica made it through to the quarter-final stage of the competition before being eventually bundled out by German champions Bayern Munich 3-2 on aggregate, but it was a good effort by the Portuguese club who progressed out of the group stages to the last 16 where they beat Russian side Zenit 3-1 on aggregate.
This time, they’re drawn in Group B with tonight’s opponents Besiktas along with Dynamo Kiev and Napoli. Home form will be crucial in this group, and having lost just twice at this level in their last 13 matches at home, Benfica will be looking to get off to a good start here.
Visitors Besiktas haven’t appeared in the Champions League for a couple of seasons, but they qualified for the group stage this year thanks to winning the Turkish Super Lig title for the first time in seven years as they finished five points ahead of runners-up Fenerbahce.
Previous form in recent years has been sketchy as they’ve registered home and away wins over Feyenoord, drew with Arsenal 0-0 at home, but got beaten by CSKA Moscow at home and lost 1-0 away from home in London in the return leg against The Gunners.
Four defeats from their last seven away matches including a 8-0 thrashing at the hands of Liverpool back in 2007 at this level means they are rightly outsiders in this clash tonight, and they’ll no doubt be looking to their home form to keep them in the hunt in Group B.
Pick: Benfica to win @ 1.73 William Hill
