Marseille - Benfica predictions and free betting tips [18/04/2024]

On Thursday, 18th April, as part of the Europa League quarter-final second leg, "Marseille" will host "Benfica" on their home turf. In recent weeks, the "dockers" have been feeling the heat, eager to break their string of four consecutive defeats, while the "eagles" are heading for an away day in France with a view to retaining their slim lead in the aggregate score.

Predicted Lineups

"Marseille": Lopez; Gigot, Balerdi, Mbemba; Harit, Ounahi, Kondogbia, Veretout, Ndiaye; Aubameyang, Moumbagna.
"Benfica": Trubin; Bah, Silva, Otamendi, Aursnes; Florentino, Neves; Di Maria, Rafa, Neres; Tengstedt.

Stadium

The clash will take place in Marseille at the Velodrome Stadium.

Marseille

Having lost 2:1 in Lisbon last week, Olympique de Marseille are not in the best shape ahead of the return leg of the Europa League quarter-finals. However, Aubameyang's late goal in the first match means the hosts still have decent chances of progressing further. Finishing second in their group after "Brighton", but ahead of Amsterdam-based "Ajax" and Athens-based "AEK", the "dockers" narrowly overcame "Shakhtar Donetsk" (5:3 on aggregate) and "Villarreal" (5:3).

Recently, the team's fortune in the national championship has been in dire straits: after three straight defeats against "Rennes" (2:0), "PSG" (0:2), and "Lille" (3:1), "Marseille" slipped to 9th place in the league table. The team had no match over the weekend as their clash with "Toulouse" was postponed to the following week. At the Velodrome, the hosts have only suffered one defeat since May last year! 

Benfica

"Benfica", in turn, won the first match in Lisbon (2:1), but the goal conceded towards the end can muddy the waters for the "eagles" ahead of the return clash on foreign soil. Finishing 3rd in their Champions League group after "Real Sociedad" and "Inter", but ahead of "Salzburg", the Portuguese side had a hard time beating "Toulouse" in the round of 32 (2:1 on aggregate) and then "Rangers" (3:2). Currently, the red-and-whites are 2nd in their championship table, trailing their neighbours and main rival "Sporting" by 4 points.

Having flopped with a 2:1 score in the derby two weeks ago, "Benfica" won 3:0 against "Moreirense" last weekend thanks to goals from Kekchu, Araujo, and Rollheiser. It should be noted that Roger Schmidt's charges don't perform too well on the road: they have won only twice in the last seven away duels. The fact that will definitely please the fans of the Lisbon giants: their darlings have not left the field without scoring for nine consecutive matches in all competitions. 

Head-to-Head

Last week's match was the 8th head-to-head meeting in these teams' history, and "Benfica" still leads with 4 wins compared to 2 for "Marseille".

Match Prediction for "Marseille" – "Benfica"

The sky-blue team, with their fan support, will begin the offensive against Lisbon's posts from the first minutes, trying to turn the situation around in the confrontation. The hosts are motivated to end their string of four consecutive defeats, but only one of them - against "PSG" - happened at the Velodrome. "Benfica", on the contrary, is not particularly impressive with convincing performances on the road in the current campaign and is also having problems with game organisation. My prediction - a home victory for the "dockers" with a handicap of 0.

Total Prediction

"Marseille" scores, on average, two goals per game on their home field this season. Given that the hosts need to offset the handicap after the fiasco in the first meeting, it is reasonable to bet on the individual total of the sky-blue squad over 1.5 goals.

Corner Prediction

"Marseille", as the home side, will take the initiative from the first minutes and start methodically rolling out the "eagles'" defence through the flanks. I bet on the Frenchmen's victory in corners.

Yellow Cards Prediction

Neither side is known for excessive roughness on the pitch (only 1 yellow card was shown in the first match), so I'm betting on the total number of cautions under 3.5.

Score Prediction

I'll bet on an exact score of 2:1 in favour of "Marseille".