Benfica look well placed to come out on top here. Boca Juniors are in turmoil, results haven’t been good and the team has plenty of question marks around them heading into this tournament. After being eliminated from the Apertura tournament and exiting the Libertadores early, Boca saw a lot of departures from their coaching staff, which has impacted the squad.

They've had three different managers in a short span and Boca haven't won in their last four games, including defeats to River Plate (in El Clásico) and Independiente (in the Argentine Championship quarter-final).

Despite Benfica losing the Portuguese league and cup titles to Sporting, and being knocked out by Barcelona in the Champions League Round of 16, Benfica are more consistent and reliable in this matchup. In their last 15 games, they have won 10, drawn three, and lost just two - to Sporting and Barcelona.

In his second stint, coach Bruno Lage has been at the helm for almost a year and already has a well-established style of play, unlike Boca Juniors who are taking their first steps under Russo.

Benfica have enough attacking strength to put pressure on a troubled Boca Juniors side. In their final matches before the Club World Cup, they faced two strong opponents (Sporting and Braga) and still posted impressive attacking numbers.

Against Sporting in the league, they recorded 14 shots and six corners; then in the cup final against the same team, they hit 14 shots and seven corners. In between, they played Braga in their final league match and maintained the same average, with 17 total shots and six corners won.

Boca Juniors are starting a new project with a recently appointed coach. Facing a team with a defined playing style, Boca will likely be under pressure, which should help produce corners in Benfica's favour.

Statistically, Benfica had the highest average of corners in the Portuguese league - seven per match. In 88% of those games, they recorded over 4.5 corners. Moreover, with Vangelis Pavlidis (1.86m tall) in the box, Benfica tend to send in plenty of crosses. They were 3rd in terms of the most crosses in the Primeira Liga last season.

Boca ended their Apertura campaign conceding 4.2 corners per match, allowing over 4.5 corners in 72% of their games.

Benfica’s standout player this season and the team’s clear attacking reference, Vangelis Pavlidis, is an excellent pick in the shots market. The Greek striker is the team’s top scorer with 29 goals this season.

With nine goals in his last 10 matches, Pavlidis frequently gets into good finishing positions - and has been highly accurate. In the Portuguese league, he attempted 81 shots (3.2 per match) and hit the target 34 times (1.3 per match).

He finished behind only Viktor Gyökeres (66) and Clayton (39) when looking at the most shots on target in the division. He has hit the target 2+ times in three of his last five matches across all competitions. Pavlidis' main strength is finishing from inside the box, where he scored 18 of his 19 league goals.

The starting XI for Boca Juniors is uncertain given that this will be Miguel Ángel Russo’s first match in charge. However, one player almost guaranteed to start is veteran goalkeeper Agustín Marchesín.

At 37, the experienced Argentine shot-stopper is expected to be heavily tested in this clash. Benfica have strong attacking names like the aforementioned Pavlidis. Moreover, as a team, Benfica led the Portuguese league in this stat with 6.2 shots on target per game. So, it’s likely Marchesín will be kept busy.

It wouldn’t be a stretch to say he’s been Boca’s most consistent performer lately and, overall, he’s handled his role well. In each of his last four matches, Marchesín made four or more saves - including key games against Independiente (four saves) and River Plate (seven saves).