Benfica vs Tottenham preview

March 19, 2014
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Benfica vs TottenhamBenfica aim to finish the job at their Estadio da Luz following the impressive 3-1 triumph at White Hart Lane, with the Eagles searching for their eleventh successive victory.

Meanwhile, Spurs are on a three-match losing run and their hopes of reaching the Europa League quarter-finals are very slim at the moment.

Many believed Benfica would crumble after a very promising season turned into utter disappointment as the team narrowly missed out on three major titles.

Nevertheless, Jorge Jesus’ squad quickly picked up the pieces and it looks as though they have been even more impressive this time out.

The Eagles will be facing arch rivals FC Porto in semi-finals of both domestic Cups, while they currently hold a seven-point lead at the top of the league standings with just seven games to go.

And having lost the Europa League final last term, Benfica look ready for another assault on the coveted title as they are on the verge of reaching the quarter-finals.

Jorge Jesus’ charges produced a stunning performance to record a 3-1 triumph over Tottenham at White Hart Lane, and they are now 1.67 (2/3) to win the return match as well.

The boss has no fresh injury worries at the moment as Eduardo Salvio is back in contention, but he is likely to make changes to the side that beat Nacional at the weekend.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Oblak – Silvio, Luisao, Garay, Siqueira – Amorim, Fejsa, Sulejmani – Markovic, Cardozo, Rodrigo.

Tottenham showed instant improvement when Tim Sherwood took over the reigns from Andre Villas-Boas, but the team have since struggled to keep the results at a respectable level.

Spurs are now effectively out of the race for top 4 positions in the Premier League, while they are also on the verge of Europa League exit.

And with the team currently on a run of three straight defeats, they have little to hope for ahead of the clash with in-form Benfica.

Following back to back defeats to Chelsea and Benfica, Tottenham showed some promise in the North London derby against Arsenal, but they had to settle for a 1-0 defeat after missing several good chances to score.

Tim Sherwood will definitely be demanding a response from his players and it is worth nothing Spurs are 5.75 (19/4) to win at Estadio da Luz.

The boss faces a real defensive headache as Younes Kaboul faces a fitness test, Michael Dawson is out injured and Jan Vertonghen is banned.

On top of that, the likes of Etienne Capoue, Erik Lamela, Moussa Dembele and Clad Chiriches are all sidelined through injury.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Lloris – Walker, Kaboul, Fryers, Naughton – Paulinho, Sandro – Lennon, Eriksen, Sigurdsson – Soldado.

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