Benfica v Arsenal tips – back both teams to score in Portugal
It’s looking increasingly likely that Arsenal will need to win the 2020/21 Europa League in order to qualify for next season’s Champions League and it will be a fact that isn’t lost on Mikel Arteta who saw two players sent off recently as the Gunners tumbled to a defeat at Molineux.
At the time of writing, the north London side are eight points off the pace as far as a top four spot is concerned, with Arsenal having enjoyed a clean sweep of victories against relatively modest opposition such as Rapid Wien, Molde and Dundalk.
Now comes a much sterner test when they come up with one of the leading football clubs in Portugal and the bookmaker odds suggest it won’t exactly be plain sailing for the visitors when they head to the Estádio da Luz on 18 February.
Who Are Betting Favourites for Benfica v Arsenal?
Benfica are the favourites to win this Europa League last 32 first leg encounter and they scored eighteen goals in six group games, with Jorge Jesus enjoying a second stint at the club and his team previously put Standard Liege and Lech Poznan to the sword on home soil.
At the time of writing, Benfica are nine points behind leaders Sporting and they were recently beaten 1-0 by these opponents, with Sporting scoring with their only shot on target in what had been a tight affair.
However, Benfica will feel as though they have a strong chance of winning this first leg encounter against an Arsenal team who might not be at full strength and Arteta will want to make sure his players are rotated so that they can continue to push for a top four spot.
Arsenal Favourites to Qualify for Europa League Last 16
While the Gunners aren’t expected to necessarily win this first leg encounter, they are favourites on the “To Qualify” football betting market where the English Premier League side are odds-on to go through to the last sixteen stage of the competition.
The latest bookmaker betting odds indicate that Arsenal are no bigger than 4/7 to go through, with Arteta likely to rotate his squad although perhaps he will use the big guns such as Bukayo Saka, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Thomas Partey for this clash.
Despite recently losing at Wolves, it is clear that the Gunners have massively picked up and controlled the first half of that game, while there could be some kind of advantage to playing their second leg match at the Emirates Stadium.
What Are the Best Europa League Bets?
Arsenal will consider it fairly essential to score an away goal and this rule is still in place despite the matches being contested in empty stadiums. Therefore, we might expect the visitors to meet fire with fire and it was noticeable that Glasgow Rangers played out a 3-3 draw with Benfica during the group stage.
If you want to bet on the Both Teams to Score betting market, you can get 4/6 with William Hill that this happens, while a Benfica win and both teams finding the net is available at 4/1 which is likely to leave the tie wide open ahead of the Emirates clash.
Those feeling confident about a resurgent Arsenal’s chances can compare the bookmaker betting odds when it comes to the Asian Handicap market and get above evens about the Gunners off scratch which means avoiding defeat would mean money back as a worst case scenario.
However, the best football bet of all for this clash could be the match to end all square and BetVictor have 7/2 that we see a drawn game between two competitive teams and this could cover the possibility of a low-scoring clash or alternatively a game where both sides find the net.