Paris Saint-Germain vs Benfica Match Analysis and Prediction

3 years ago 580

Paris Saint-Germain will be looking to strenghthen their position at the top of Group H when they continue their Champions League campaign at home to Benfica on Tuesday.

Christophe Galtier’s side are currently at the summit of the section on seven points, level with second-placed Benfica, with the two sides playing out a 1-1 draw in the revrse game in Portugal last week.

PSG opened their Group H campaign with successive victories over Juventus and Maccabi Haifa, while the draw with Benfica moved them onto seven points, leaving them top of the group.

A victory on Tuesday could prove enough to see the capital giants progress to the knockout round with two matches to go, and it would be a huge shock if they were unable to qualify from this position.

The French giants reached the semi-finals and round of 16 in the Champions League since being finalists in 2020, and this is the competition that they are desperate to win.

Meanwhile, Benfica reached the quarter-finals of last season’s Champions League before they were beaten by Liverpool, as they are once again in a strong position to advance to the knockout round of the competition.

Roger Schmidt’s side opened their campaign with a 2-0 victory over Maccabi Haifa on September 6 before claiming a 2-1 win at Juventus on September 14.

The 1-1 stalemate against PSG last week further fuelled claims that they are strong enough to reach the last 16, and another positive result on Tuesday would lead them nicely into their next match with Juventus on October 25.

Benfica would take charge of the group with a victory here, but a defeat would not be the end of the road, especially as their last match in the group is against Maccabi Haifa, with PSG and Juventus also meeting on the finl matchday.

Paris Saint-Germain vs Benfica head to head

These two teams have previously met on nine occasions across all competitions, where PSG have claimed three victories while Benfica have won four, and they have drawn twice. Benfica have scored 15 goals and conceded 14. In their last five meetings, they have each won twice while they have drawn once.

Benfica 3-1 PSG 15/07/11

PSG 3-0 Benfica 02/10/13

Benfica 2-1 PSG 10/12/13

Benfica 2-3 PSG 19/07/15

Benfica 1-1 PSG 05/10/22

Paris Saint-Germain latest home form

PSG have recently been on a good run of form at home, as they have been unbeaten in their 14 most recent matches. They managed to defeat Nice 2-1 in their last home game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored 11 goals and conceded five.

PSG 5-2 Montpellier 13/08/22

PSG 1-1 Monaco 28/08/22

PSG 2-1 Juventus 06/09/22

PSG 1-0 Brest 10/09/22

PSG 2-1 Nice 01/10/22

Paris Saint-Germain latest away form

PSG have recently been on a good run of form on the road, having been unbeaten in their 11 most recent matches. They played out a goalless draw with Reims in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored eight goals and conceded two.

Nantes 0-3 PSG 03/09/22

Maccabi Haifa 1-3 PSG 14/09/22

Lyon 0-1 PSG 18/09/22

Benfica 1-1 PSG 05/10/22

Reims 0-0 PSG 08/10/22

Benfica latest home form

Benfica have recently been on a good run of form at home, as they have been unbeaten in their 13 most recent matches. They managed to defeat Rio Ave 4-2 in their last home game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored 14 goals and conceded four.

Benfica 2-1 Vizela 02/09/22

Benfica 2-0 Maccabi Haifa 06/09/22

Benfica 5-0 Maritimo 18/09/22

Benfica 1-1 PSG 05/10/22

Benfica 4-2 Rio Ave 08/10/22

Benfica latest away form

Benfica have recently been on a good run of form on the road, having been unbeaten in their 10 most recent matches. They drew 0-0 with Vitoria Guimaraes in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored eight goals and conceded just one.

Dinamo Kiev 0-2 Benfica 17/08/22

Boavista 0-3 Benfica 27/08/22

Famalicao 0-1 Benfica 10/09/22

Juventus 1-2 Benfica 14/09/22

Vitoria Guimaraes 0-0 Benfica 01/10/22

Paris Saint-Germain news

Messi missed out against Reims through the calf problem he picked up in the early stages against Benfica, and he is unlikely to be risked on Tuesday.

Consequently, Pablo Sarabia could feature in the front three alongside Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, while Vitinha and Achraf Hakimi should be back in the side.

Benfica news

Felipe Morato and Lucas Verissimo will again be unavailable for selection for Benfica due to ankle and knee injuries respectively.

Schmidt could select the same XI from the reverse game against PSG last week, with Rafa, Florentino Luis, David Neres, Alex Grimaldo and Alexander Bah all in line to earn recalls into the starting lineup.

Prediction and Odds

This has all the making of a very entertaining an tough game, and it will not be a surprise to see a talented Benfica side pick up a positive result from France on Tuesday.

However, PSG’s home advantage could be key and we are backing Galtier’s side to come out on top.

Odds: 1 1.88 X 2.02 2 2.26