This will be one of the most interesting ties of the Champions League 3rd qualifying round and even though Benfica are seen as favourites to go through, they could have a tough task against Turkish giants.

Having spent the entire last decade in Porto’s shade, Benfica chiefs are determined to get this club back to the fore and they seem to be on the right track.

While the Eagles couldn’t match unbelievable Porto in Liga Sagres, they have shown a lot of potential in Europe, having reached the Europa League semi-finals last season.

Seeing that it’s been a while since Benfica last played in Champions League group stage, the Eagles are very motivated to make it to the next round, although the odds of 1.40 (2/5) offered by home win by 888Sport do not represent a real value.

Just like every summer, Benfica squad have undergone major changes, but the team do look stronger than last term.

While Fabio Coentrao was sold to Real Madrid and Eduardo Salvio returned to Atletico, the Eagles produced quite a coup by securing the signatures of Joan Capdevila, Emerson, Eduardo, Axel Witsel, Ezequiel Garay, Nolito, Nemanja Matic and Enzo Perez among others.

Spain international full-back Joan Capdevilla was not included in the original list sent to UEFA, but the recent reports suggest that he will be registered just before the game.

Miguel Vitor misses out through injury, while Maxi Pereira is out of contention, having just returned from Copa America.

Probable starting line-up (4-1-3-2): Eduardo – Emerson, Luisao, Garay, Capdevila – Javi Garcia – Perez, Aimar, Witsel – Cardozo, Saviola.

The entire Turkish football has been hit with the match-fixing scandal and Trabzonspor president has also been arrested.

The team’s preparations for the Benfica clash suffered because of this and we are yet to see if the Turkish side will be able to match very good Eagles.

Trabzonspor were pretty impressive last season, finishing the league campaign tied on points with champions Fenerbahce, but they, too, have changed the squad a great deal this summer.

Key players Umit Bulut, Selcuk Inan and Jaja Coelho all left the club, leaving a big gap to fill.

The club then spent a lot of money on new signings, namely Didier Zokora, Paulo Henrique and Adrian Mierzejewski, while Halil Altintop and Baris Ozbek arrived on free.

The Turkish side have been far from impressive in pre-season, but they still have the potential to surprise Benfica and are 3.10 (21/10) with William Hill not to lose at La Luz.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Kivrak – Yumlu, Glowacki, Kacar, Celustka – Altintop, Zokora, Colman, Alanzinho – Yilmaz, Henrique.