Kick-off: 2000, 24/08/2021
Stadium: Philips Stadion
TV: BT Sport
PSV have work to do after losing 2-1 away to Benfica in the first leg of their Champions League qualifier but did impress in Lisbon.
Roger Schmidt’s side showed great resolve to recover from a shaky start and could easily have returned to Holland on level terms.
We saw enough to suggest that 19/20 for the Dutch outfit to prevail in the return fixture is fair value for our first PSV vs Benfica prediction.
A Look At PSV Eindhoven’s Betting Odds
PSV were undone by the sharp movement of Rafa early on in Portugal and were denied an equaliser when Eran Zahavi was just offside for a fine through ball.
Cody Gakpo forced Odysseas Vlachodimos to save on another counter-attack while Lucas Verissimo had a fierce long-range effort kept out at the other end.
Benfica doubled their lead just before half-time when Julian Weigl pounced on an uncleared corner and at that point they looked in charge of the tie.
However, PSV fought back after the break and Marco van Ginkel went close with a header before Gakpo broke from deep and fired in a superb solo strike from the edge of the box.
Vlachodimos did well to prevent an own goal and deny Gakpo as PSV pushed for a late leveller but this contest feels perfectly poised.
Gakpo really did catch the eye at Estadio da Luz and scored at home to Midtjylland in the previous round.
Looking at the PSV vs Benfica odds, we like 5/2 for the 22-year-old Netherlands Euro 2020 squad member to net at any time again here.
A Look At Benfica’s Betting Odds
Benfica will take heart from beating Spartak Moscow 2-0 in both legs in the last round and have also started well in Portugal’s Primeira Liga.
Saturday’s 2-0 victory at Gil Vicente gave them maximum points from three domestic matches and several players are in good goalscoring form.
Rafa, Verissimo, Roman Yaremchuk and Luca Waldschmidt have all hit the ground running this term.
Losing the last-named Germany international forward to Wolfsburg was a big blow, though, and that could come back to haunt the Eagles.
PSV made it seven wins in eight games this season when beating Cambuur 4-1 over the weekend.
That hot streak includes a 4-0 drubbing of Ajax in the Dutch Super Cup, a 5-1 win over Galatasaray in Eindhoven and a 3-0 triumph versus Midtjylland at this venue.
Let’s finish off our PSV vs Benfica betting tips by taking 19/10 for a home victory and over 2.5 goals in the game.
Additional stats
Last result:
PSV 4-1 Cambuur – Davy Propper, Eran Zahavi, Noni Madueke, Oliver Boscagli
Gil Vicente 0-2 BENFICA – Lucas Verissimo, Alejandro Grimaldo
Head-to-head: Benfica 2-1 PSV, PSV 2-2 Benfica, Benfica 4-1 PSV, PSV 2-2 Benfica, Benfica 2-1 PSV, PSV 0-0 Benfica
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