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Benfica v Atletico Madrid
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Kick Off: Wednesday 2nd October at 20:00
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Competition: Champions League
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Watch Live: TNT Sports 7
Benfica entertain Atletico Madrid at the Estadio da Luz on Wednesday night, the Eagles made a positive start to their Champions League campaign by earning a 2-1 win away at Red Star Belgrade. As for Atletico Madrid, they hit the ground running with a last-gasp 2-1 win over RB Leipzig.
⭐ Benfica v Atletico Madrid Best Bets
Atletico Madrid are no strangers to a fiery affair and that makes over 4.5 cards an appealing option at 1.57. The Spanish giants shared seven cards with RB Leipzig on matchday one. It’s also worth noting that each of Atleti’s opening three Champions League games last season featured five or more cards.
Benfica’s maiden assignment in Belgrade also produced five bookings, as have three of their seven Primeira Liga matches this season.
🔍 Benfica v Atletico Madrid Players to Watch
🔴 Nicolas Otamendi
Nicolas Otamendi’s mastery and use of the game’s dark arts are likely to be on display on Wednesday night. That makes the veteran defender a prime candidate to commit a foul at 1.4.
The ageing Argentine has committed a combined total of six fouls across his six Primeira Liga appearances this season. Otamendi collected 12 yellow cards and one red across all competitions last season, and he will relish his battle with Atleti’s frontline.
⚪️ Antoine Griezmann
Antoine Griezmann was fouled once during Atletico Madrid’s 2-1 win over RB Leipzig and a repeat looks worth backing here at 1.57. The French ace has also drawn a foul from the opposition at least once in four of the six La Liga games he has started this season.
He will likely be up against Benfica’s serial-fouler Florentino, who has given away a free-kick in each of his eight appearances this season.
⚪️ Koke
Koke looks like a great value option to commit a minimum of one foul at 1.73. The Atletico Madrid captain has given away a free-kick in five of the six La Liga games that he has started this season.
He averaged a shade under one foul per-game in last season’s Champions League. His direct opponent is expected to be Orkun Kokcu, who was fouled five times against Red Star Belgrade on matchday one..
📂 Benfica v Atletico Madrid Cheat Sheet
The second week of the Champions League is littered with action and our signature football betting predictions are on hand to help. Make sure to check out our Champions League accumulator tips and Champions League bet builder tips to help you back a winner for the first week of the Champions League.
Not only that, but we also have a selection of both teams to score tips, along with player prop market predictions to fold into bet builders, like our card betting tips, player shots on target tips, fouls betting tips, and anytime goalscorer tips.
If you enjoy this revamped betting preview, be sure to check out our bet builder stats tool, the best freely available data source for punting on football, available for all Champions League fixtures this week.
💻 Benfica v Atletico Madrid Form and Tactics
Benfica have been on an upward curve since replacing Roger Schmidt with Bruno Lage. They have won each of their four matches under their new manager, scoring multiple goals in each of those victories. The Eagles were clinical in front of goal when defeating Gil Vicente 5-1 on Saturday. They generated an xG of 2.68 and scored with five of their six shots on target.
It was a similar story in their 2-1 win over Red Star Belgrade on matchday one. The Lisbon giants posted an xG of 1.27, were limited to 45% possession and struck with two of their three on-target efforts. Lage’s side committed 11 fouls and collected three yellow cards in their Champions League opener.
Benfica racked up 11 corners in their most recent Primeira Liga outing. Their overall flag-kicks total of 60 is the highest of any side in the Portuguese top-flight this term.
Atletico Madrid have made a typically solid start to the season. Diego Simeone’s side are undefeated in nine matches across all competitions after scoring a late equaliser against Real Madrid on Sunday. The underlying data from the Madrid derby would suggest that Atleti fully merited their point. They won the xG battle, while both teams amassed 12 shots on goal, as well as having four on-target attempts apiece.
Atletico Madrid were a lot more dominant in their 2-1 win over RB Leipzig on Champions League matchday one. They won the shot count 21-7 and clocked up eight corners in comparison to the German’s two. Both teams committed 13 fouls in a keenly-contested affair that saw a combined total of seven yellow cards dished out.
An interesting but perhaps unsurprising takeaway from matchday one was that Atletico Madrid ranked highest for balls recovered (58) of all the teams in the competition.
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🏁 Benfica v Atletico Madrid Ref Watch
- Referee Serdar Gozubuyuk has averaged 3.33 cards per-game in the Eredivisie this season.
- Serdar Gozubuyuk has awarded one penalty kick across his three outings in the Eredivisie this season.
- Serdar Gozubuyuk has awarded an average of 26.00 free-kicks per-game in the Eredivisie this season..
Football Predictions at Andy’s Bet Club
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Expert guides, such as this one, on xG in football, are also available to help you up your punting game.
* I recommend waiting for confirmed team line-ups before placing any bets.
* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing.
Written by an Andy verified content writer
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