Build up to the match
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has claimed his team selection will be “easy to guess” come their match against Benfica on Wednesday. But the master of mind games since the time of Sir Alex Ferguson could well be pulling off another deception here – after all, the tactician’s career flourished in Portugal and will definitely have sources inside the country. Combine that to the gulf in class on paper, and this could well be another Red Devils victory.
Match information
Kickoff: Wednesday, 18th October 2017, 07:45PM England time
Venue: Estadio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal
Team News
Benfica have an almost clean bill of health with only their utility man Andre Almeida out due to suspension. The rest of the squad is available for selection with highly-rated Argentine winger Eduardo Salvio and clinical Swiss striker Haris Seferovic ready to wreak havoc to United’s defence.
Manchester United are still without their midfield magician Paul Pogba and defender Eric Bailly, as both our out with long-term injuries. The same could be said of Reds captain Michael Carrick. Belgian strongman Marouane Fellaini was injured on international duty and will also be unavailable.
Form
Benfica
W-D-L-W-D (across all competitions)
Benfica have not had the best form in recent weeks, especially if you consider that their latest loss was in the Champions League – a 5-0 thumping in the hands of Swiss side Basel. They will have to pull out all the stops if they are to manage a win against Manchester United.
Manchester United
W-W-W-W-D (across all competitions)
Apart from a goalless draw against Liverpool in the Premier League during the weekend, Manchester United have been firing on all cylinders ever since the campaign started, with three 4-0 wins notched since the start of the season. It’d be hard to see past them winning this game.
Match Prediction
This is a no-brainer. The gulf in class is simply too hard to ignore and their is simply very slim chance Benfica could pull off a shock win against an in-form, confident Manchester United. If Benfica do win in this game, it will be because United lost the plot big time.
Benfica 0-4 Manchester United