It is hard to have much confidence in Benfica to win this game.

Last season they finished second in the Primeira Liga, 10 points behind winners Sporting, and failed to make it out of the group stages of the Champions League despite being placed in a group with Real Sociedad, Inter and Salzburg. This season they have already dropped points in the league, with a record of three wins, a draw and a loss from their first five. They sacked manager Roger Schmidt at the end of August, with Bruno Lage taking over earlier in September.

Crvena Zvezda, by contrast, have made a strong start to this season with a domestic record of W6-D1-L0, scoring 21 goals and conceding just four. In Europe it is a different story, however, with a record of W6-D2-L12 from their last 20 European games. They qualified for the group stage in 2023 and managed just one point, losing five of their six games and conceding 15. However, their games were littered with goals with an average of 3.67.

Benfica are more likely to get the three points here, but they look a little short to win this game given the upheaval of the last few weeks. Instead, with neither team having a great recent record in European competitions, backing goals is the way to go in this game. The hosts have scored in 50 of their last 51 games in all competitions at home, so taking both sides to score looks a much smarter choice here.

Feyenoord have started the season with an average of 3.5 goals per 90 minutes, with both teams scoring in all four. They have a long record of scoring at home, finding the net in 31 of their last 35 domestic matches.

Their last nine home European fixtures have averaged 2.88 goals with both sides finding the net in six, whilst they have conceded in seven.

Leverkusen were runners up in the Europa League last season. They played 13 games in total, with an average of 3.38 goals. In those 13, they scored at least twice in 10 and saw both teams score in seven. The German side were excellent in front of goal, averaging 2.38 goals per 90, but did concede in eight of their matches.

They have started their domestic league with an average of three goals per match, failing to keep a clean sheet, and a ridiculously high match average of 5.0 goals per fixture.

Arsenal are likely to be missing some key players for this game so we are expecting a similar performance to the game on Sunday against Spurs. Last season in the Champions League the Gunners kept their games tight with an average of just 2.0 goals per game and an xGA of 0.96, conceding an average of only 8.8 shots per 90 minutes. This form was consistent with their away performances in the Premier League where they kept 11 clean sheets from 19 last term.

Atalanta beat Bayern Leverkusen 3-0 in the Europa League final last season, but their games were often closely contested with an average of only 2.54 goals across their 13 games. The Italian side conceded an average of 0.62 goals with a xGA of 1.1, so they slightly outperformed their underlying data, but we should take comfort in the fact that they like to keep games tight.

Los Rojiblancos have a strong home record in this competition with a record of W26-D10-L4. Those four defeats came against Milan, Chelsea, and Liverpool. They are currently undefeated at home in 10 games, whilst last season’s group stage saw them win all three home games by an aggregate score of 11-2. The hosts registered a total of 19 shots on target from their three home group stage fixtures last term.

Leipzig have been inconsistent on the road in their European games with a record of W8-D2-L7. Over the last 11 away Champions League games they have won five, drawn one and lost five, with their victories coming against the likes of Young Boys, Red Star Belgrade and Celtic.

Domestically they have struggled on their away days with only two clean sheets, conceding an average of 1.59 goals per 90 minutes. It is a struggle not to see the hosts scoring given they have found the net at least twice in their last seven home Champions League fixtures, whilst only conceding more than once in three of their last 17.

The French side are competing in European competition for the first time in their history after finishing in third place last season, their highest-ever top-flight finish. Unfortunately, this season has not started so well with just one win in four, losing the other three whilst conceding 10 goals.

Last term their home record was strong with just two defeats all season, which came at the hands of league winners, PSG, and Monaco who finished second. Their record against the better sides in the division was poor, recording three wins, four draws and seven losses against their fellow top eight sides.

Sturm Graz have benefitted from UEFA’s decision to expand the competition to 36 teams, qualifying automatically as Austrian Bundesliga champions. They have previously tried to enter the competition through the play-offs and failed. They did play in the Europa League and then dropped into the Conference League last season, coming out with a record of W3-D2-L7. They did, however, hold fellow French outfit Lille to a 1-1 draw.

These are two sides that will struggle in the competition, although it must be said that both have received relatively favourable draws. Neither side will want to start off with a defeat, so we should see a close game but given the number of goals that Brest have seen this season, we expect some goals.

Barcelona look a good side so far this season under new coach Hansi Flick. They have won all five games scoring an average of 3.4 with a xG of 2.9, which has been helped by a 7-0 thrashing of Real Valladolid. Despite the dominance they have kept only one clean sheet this season. The Spanish team have struggled in recent years in this competition, getting past the quarter finals only once since 2015.

Monaco have started the season well in France with a record of W3-D1-L0, but this will be step up from the sides they have been facing in the Ligue 1. Despite only conceding once this season, they have a xGA of 1.03, conceding a massive 2.3 xG in their recent game against Lens.