As the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League comes closer to the beginning, the remaining spots are still open for the winners of the Champions League Qualifiers to play in Europe’s prestigious competition. Danish champions FC Midtjylland take on Portuguese club Benfica in the second leg of their third qualifying round tie.
Benfica won the first leg 4-1 at the Estadio da Luz, with Goncalo Ramos scoring a hat-trick for Benfica and Pione Sisto scoring a penalty for the Danish club. The Ulvene have a monumental job in front of them, as Benfica are on a 9-game winning streak since losing to Porto towards the end of last season.
MIDT vs BEN: Match Details
| Match | FC Midtjylland vs Benfica |
| Date | 9th August 2022 |
| Time | 11:15 pm |
| Venue | AutoC Park Randers, Randers |
MIDT vs BEN: Broadcast Details
Midtjylland vs Benfica is available on Sony Ten 1, Sony Ten 2, Sony Ten 3 and Sony LIV, their OTT platform.
MIDT vs BEN: Head-to-Head Stats
These teams have only met once in their history, when they faced off in the first leg of the current Champions League qualifiers, winning 4-1. Betting
MIDT vs BEN: Players To Watch Out
Alex Grimaldo
The Spanish fullback has been a mainstay at left-back at Benfica since his arrival in 2016. He’s recorded 256 league appearances in his time so far, scoring 14 goals. He is also picked as vice-captain by over 20% of the fantasy league players.
Henrik Dalsgaard
The 33-year-old Danish centre-back has been captained by over 35% of the fantasy league players. He is our pick at captaincy as well.
David Neres
David Neres scored 37 goals in his time at Ajax, but didn’t settle at Shakhtar Donetsk and is now at Benfica. He is hoping to build up some form to have a chance at making Brazil’s 2022 FIFA World Cup team.
MIDT vs BEN: Predicted Line-Ups
Midtjylland XI: Lossl; Dalsgaard, Sviatchenko, Juninho; Andersson, Onyedika, Sorensen, Dyhr; Dreyer, Kaba, Sisto
Benfica XI: Vlachodimos; Gilberto, Otamendi, Morato, Grimaldo; Luis, Fernandez; Neres, Silva, Mario; Ramos
MIDT vs BEN: Team News
Midtjylland will be without Evander, who is expected to return from a torn muscle near the end of August.
Raphael Onyedika returned to the starting XI in Saturday’s 3-3 draw at Lyngby, and the 21-year-old is expected to start again to provide more midfield steel.
Meanwhile, Benfica will be without defender Lucas Verissimo, who is recovering from a ruptured cruciate ligament.
Schmidt named an unchanged lineup for the weekend, and his team rewarded their manager’s faith in them by defeating Arouca 4-0.
It seems unlikely that the 55-year-old would feel the need to change things up, but he may look to the bench in the second half if the tie appears to be wrapped up.
MIDT vs BEN: Match Prediction
We anticipate another comfortable win for Benfica, bringing them within one tie of the Champions League group stage.
They outclassed Midtjylland in the first leg, and while a Danish goal would not be surprising, the visitors have far too much firepower for them to handle. We predict a 3-1 win for As Águias over Midtjylland.
The betting odds for a Midtjylland win or a draw is 4.00 while the Benfica being the favourite, the odds for Benfica win is 1.83.
