With European football back this Thursday across the Europa League and Europa Conference League, Forebet is here to group together all the data, mathematics, insights, football predictions and trends so far this season.
The second league of the Europa League playoffs takes place this Thursday with Benfica heading to Toulouse after the Ligue 1 side suffered a 2-1 loss away in Portugal in leg one.
Training session at Benfica Campus 📸👊 pic.twitter.com/9htbZLtueB— SL Benfica (@slbenfica_en) February 21, 2024
Training session at Benfica Campus 📸👊 pic.twitter.com/9htbZLtueB
Benfica are no doubt the favourites to make it through to the round of 16, but it won’t be an easy game for them.
Just like last season, Toulouse sit down in 13th, although they have won just five games so far this season and are only one point above the relegation zone.
This has seen the club score a dismal 22 goals in 22 Ligue 1 outings, putting them as the worst attacking team in the French top flight for those outside of the relegation zone.
Toulouse did make it into the Europa League after winning the French Cup by stunning Nantes 5-1, and they also head into this game after stunning Monaco 2-1 over at the Stade Louis II. Vincent Sierro and Logan Costa scored a goal each that day.
Toulouse will also be confident in getting the job done here based on the 2-1 loss to Benfica, as they were brutally done by a penalty in the 98th minute in the end.
Angel Di Maria was the hero for Benfica from the spot, and he also netted from 12 yards just before this to give Benfica the lead.
Mikkel Desler scored for Toulouse, but they will also be without Christian Mawissa after his red card late on in the game during the first leg.
As for Benfica, they continue to run through all of Portugal after beating Vizela 6-1 where David Neres scored twice.
The trends of no clean sheets and plenty of shots on target also carried on in that game, and further data has seen Benfica beat Vizela in the Taca de Portugal too, which keeps up their fight in three separate competitions in 2023/24.
The Lisbon side are also top of Liga Portugal with one loss on the board and just 15 goals let in too.
With 52 scored, only Sporting Lisbon has racked up more finishes, and given the one defeat for Benfica, it now means a run of 18 games without a loss in 90 minutes after a defeat to Real Sociedad back in November.
Forebet predicts a draw and over 2.5 goals.