UEFA Champions League: Benfica vs. Ajax Preview, Odds, Prediction

Shaken Benfica meets with Ajax in the UEFA Champions League round of 16. The Eagles haven’t been confident this year, and they are already out of the title race in Portugal. Meanwhile, Ajax is dominating Eredivise and on top of that, has very strong results on the international stage. Dusan Tadic is leading his unit in the best possible way, and the Lancers look like a potential dark horse in the title race. Wednesday’s game will tell us a lot about their quality, as it is a big test for the Dutch side.

Preview

Benfica (+320) had a 0-2 lead against Boavista on Friday night but managed to spoil that by allowing two goals for the hosts. In the end, the Eagles took only one point, suffering a big hit before the UCL challenge.

This was the sixth consecutive game for Benfica, eighth in the past 10, with both teams scoring. Also, the last six events have been with over 2.5 goals, so we can say without hesitation that the Eagles’ games are interesting to watch.

The former European champions have only one win at home in the past five games, posting two losses and two draws, with the note that they eliminated Boavista in the League Cup following the penalties, playing 1-1 after 90 minutes.

Ajax (-110) had to dig deep against Willem II to squeeze out a minimal win on the road, 0-1. Bad weather, which included rain and wind, prevented them from showing all of their potential. Right now, Ajax has 10 consecutive victories, allowing just one goal during that span, which is impressive.

The equally impressive thing is that they scored two or more goals in every game during that span apart from the latest one. Tadic, Haller, and the boys up front are doing one hell of a job.

Now here is one very interesting fact. Ajax is without a loss on the road in the last 20 matches. Remember that.

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Almeida, Lucas Verissimo, Pinho and Haris Seferovic are all out for the home side.

Ajax comes to Portugal without Brobbey, Klaiber and Stekelenburgh, while Tagliafico and Timber aren’t 100% sure to appear at La Luz.

Head to Head Games

There have been quite a few meetings between these two sides throughout history. In seven games so far, Ajax has four wins, two ended with a draw and Benfica posted just on triumph.

The most recent clashes were in the 2019 UCL group stage. Ajax was better at home, 1-0, while the event in Lisbon ended 1-1.

Prediction

The guests are the favorites here, and we believe that they will win, mostly due to Benfica’s unstable offense. Though, in order to reduce the risk to the minimum, our pick in this event is over 2,5 goals, with the odds -160. For those willing to take some risk, go with Ajax’s win and three or more goals in a combo bet. Benfica is dangerous, but their inconsistency in the back line outweighs all the positive areas of their game.

Pick: Over 2.5 goals -160

Here are the previews for other UCL games:

• Chelsea vs. Lille
• Atletico Madrid vs. Man Utd
• Villarreal vs. Juventus