Benfica v Bologna: Prediction and Tips

Benfica have made a solid start to the new-look UEFA Champions League this season and should be able to boost their chances of a top-eight finish with a home win over Bologna on Wednesday.

The Portuguese side have won three of their first five matches and remain in fantastic domestic form, winning eight of their last nine games in all competitions.

Bologna have struggled so far this season, taking just one point from their first five UEFA Champions League games while scoring only one goal, but they have found some form in front of goal in their last few matches in Italy.

Contents

Benfica v Bologna Prediction

Key Prediction Stats & Insights

Supercomputer Prediction

Benfica v Bologna Betting Tips

Predicted Starting Line-ups

Benfica v Bologna Prediction

Prediction	BetSie Supercomputer %	Odds	Odds %
Benfica to win	55%	4/7	63.64%
Benfica 2-1 Bologna	N/A	15/2	11.76%

Key Prediction Stats & Insights

• Benfica are on a five-game winning streak

• Bologna have lost four of their five UEFA Champions League matches

• The visitors have scored only one goal in their five European fixtures

Supercomputer predictions

Benfica	55%
Draw	22.9%
Bologna	22.1%

The odds of 4/7 suggest Benfica have a 63.64% chance of beating Bologna on Wednesday evening, higher than the 55% suggested by the BetSie Supercomputer.

Bologna's price of 9/2 suggests they have a 18.2% chance of victory - slightly lower than the Supercomputer.

Benfica v Bologna Betting Tips

Tip	Current Odds
Benfica to win	4/7
Over 2.5 goals and both teams to score	6/5
Kerem Akturkoglu anytime goalscorer	7/4

Benfica to win - 4/7

Benfica will be happy enough with the start they have made to their UEFA Champions League campaign after winning three of their first five league phase games.

After starting out with excellent wins over Red Star Belgrade and Atletico Madrid, their only poor result of the competition to date came in a 3-1 home loss to Feyenoord, but that was a somewhat unfortunate result as they had more possession, shots on target and corners and the third goal came late on when they were pushing for an equaliser.  

The 1-0 away defeat at Bayern Munich that followed was entirely respectable and Benfica got back to winning ways with a 3-2 win in Monaco, scoring two late goals.

Their domestic form is impeccable with 11 successive league and cup wins in Portugal and they are yet to drop a point in seven home league games. With leaders Sporting CP losing their last three games since the departure of manager Ruben Amorim to join Manchester United, the Eagles will fancy their chances of reclaiming the title.

Bologna have had a tough start in this competition. After opening with a goalless home draw against Shakhtar Donetsk, they have suffered four consecutive defeats to Liverpool, Aston Villa, Monaco and Lille, scoring their first goal in their fifth match.

The Serie A side opened the season with a glut of draws and won only one of their first 11 games this season (against struggling Monza), but they have climbed to eighth in the table after an improved run of form and still have only two losses in the league.

They went close to upsetting Juventus in a 2-2 draw on Saturday but have not shown enough in Europe to suggest they can conjure up an away success against a strong home team.  

Over 2.5 goals & both teams to score - 6/5

Benfica are averaging more than three goals per home game in the league and two per match in the UEFA Champions League. Four of their five fixtures in this competition have produced at least three goals and that pattern could continue at the Estadio da Luz on Wednesday.

Bologna's putrid record of one goal in five European games has meant that they have been involved in lower-scoring games, but their last UEFA Champions League match had three goals and they have finally found their shooting boots in Italy.

Vincenzo Italiano's side have notched nine goals in their three games since the 2-1 defeat to Lille and given their desperation to keep their hopes of making the play-off stage alive, they may have to take a more positive approach, which could lead to goals at both ends of the pitch.

Kerem Akturkoglu anytime goalscorer - 7/4

Turkish forward Kerem Akturkoglu made a fantastic start to life in Portugal after joining from Galatasaray in September, scoring eight goals in his first seven games for Benfica.

He disappeared from the scoresheet for five matches after netting a first-half hat-trick in the 5-0 home league win over Rio Ave, but returned to form when scoring the only goal of Saturday's 1-0 victory over Vitoria.

With veteran Angel Di Maria in super form at the age of 36, Arturkoglu should continue to get plenty of chances to find the net and can add to his goals against Crvena Zvezda, Atletico Madrid and Feyenoord in this competition.

Predicted Starting Line-ups

Benfica

Formation: 4-3-3
Team: Trubin; Bah, Araujo, Otamendi, Carreras; Aursnes, Florentino Luis, Kokcu; Di Maria, Pavlidis, Akturkoglu.

Bologna

Formation: 4-2-3-1
Team: Skorupski; Posch, Beukema, Lucumi, Miranda; Freuler, Pobega; Ndoye, Ferguson, Dominguez; Castro.

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