MX23RW : Monday, November 18 06:45:37| >> :600:413202:413202:

Preview: Benfica vs. Fenerbahce

Sports Mole previews the second leg of the Europa League semi-final between Portugal's Benfica and Fenerbahce of Turkey.

Turkish outfit Fenerbahce were left to rue a host of missed chances during the opening leg of their Europa League semi-final tie against Benfica last week.

Despite having hit the woodwork on three occasions and creating numerous opportunities throughout the 90 minutes, they only have a 1-0 advantage ahead of the second leg in Portugal on Thursday night.

They will be hoping that the encounter doesn't end the same way it did when they last made the trip to face Benfica back in 1975 when they slumped to a 7-0 defeat.

Any positive result that the visitors may achieve will have to be done so without the services of Mehmet Topal and Cameroon striker Pierre Webo, both of whom are suspended.

Meanwhile, hosting Benfica do not have any suspension worries, although striker Rui Fonte will be absent with a knee injury.

Fenerbahce are yet to lose in six away matches in this season's competition, while Benfica are unbeaten in 13 home games over three UEFA Europa League campaigns, winning 12 of them.

Recent form

Benfica: WDDWWW

Fenerbahce: DWDLWW

Possible starting lineups

Benfica: Moraes; Garay, Pereira, Melgarejo, Jardel; Aimar, Matic, Salvio, Gomes; Cardozo, John

Fenerbahce: Demirel; Yobo, Ziegler, Korkmaz, Gonul; Raul Meireles, Sahin, Baroni, Krasic; Kuyt, Sow

Sports Mole says: 2-1


ID:82166: cacheID:82166:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:3268:No Data Analysis info

Previews by email

Click here to get Sports Mole's daily email of previews and predictions for every major game!


Restore Data
Share this article now:
Fener's Raul Meireles celebrates his goal against Borussia Moenchengladbach on October 4, 2012
Read Next:
Preview: Fenerbahce vs. Benfica
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Sporting Lisbon1111003953433
2Porto119022882027
3Benfica108112872125
4Santa ClaraSanta Clara117041412221
5Braga116231911820
6Vitoria de GuimaraesGuimaraes115331211118
7FamalicaoFamalicao11452129317
8MoreirenseMoreirense115241514117
9Casa Pia113441014-413
10Rio AveRio Ave113351020-1012
11Gil Vicente112451419-510
12Estoril PraiaEstoril11245816-810
13AVS11245919-1010
14BoavistaBoavista11236715-89
15Estrela Amadora112361020-109
16Nacional10226615-98
17AroucaArouca11227619-138
18SC FarenseFarense11128518-135


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!