Chelsea v Benfica Prediction 15th May 2013

Chelsea v Benfica Betting Preview
The two sides head to Amsterdam for the final of the Europa League on Wednesday night. Chelsea could become the first side to simultaneously hold both of UEFA’s top honours if they win. They have produced three wins from their previous four European Finals, whereas Benfica are on a six match losing streak. The Portuguese side lost a crucial domestic match against FC Porto on the weekend, a title decider in the Liga. Will that have a bearing on this outcome?

Chelsea v Benfica Betting Odds at online bookmaker Paddy Power
Chelsea 7/5, Benfica 21/10, Draw 9/4

Online bookmaker Promotion
Paddy Power have built a Money Back Special around Chelsea’s Brazilian midfielder Oscar for the Europa League final. If Oscar scores during normal time during regulation time in the Europa League final, then Paddy Power will refund all losing First Goalscorer, Last Goalscorer, Correct Score and Scorecast bets placed on the match. Superb coverage for Chelsea’s efforts as they go for their second European title in two seasons. New customers registering an account with Paddy Power can receive up to a free £50 bet as a welcome bonus, as the bookie will match the value of your first stake on a new account.

Chelsea v Benfica Recommended Bet:
The two sides have only come up against each other twice before, and that was in last season’s Champions League. It was Chelsea who took wins in both of the matches on their way to lifting the Champions League title. So there isn’t a great deal of history to look at between them, but both have had a fair amount of experience against clubs from the other country. The two wins against Benfica last season will give Chelsea some favouritism and they do start as favourites. Chelsea have only lost one of their last eight against Portuguese clubs, and recent form has seen them rattle off five wins in a row. All five of those matches too were won by a one goal margin as well, so that could be a trend worth riding. In four of those wins, Chelsea kept clean sheets as well.

So plenty of optimism around Chelsea for the Europa League final. They eased some pressure off themselves ahead of the trip to Amsterdam as well, by beating Aston Villa in the Premier League on the weekend. That secured them a place in the Champions League next season, so they can really look forward and focus on this one without any distractions. A win for Chelsea would make them the first ever club to win the top two UEFA honours in reverse order in consecutive seasons. They would also join an exclusive list of having made a clean sweep of all of UEFA’s top honours.

The Blues have come through a tough end of season run in, a congested fixture list and tough matches in the Premier League to try and secure a top four finish. They have been pushing out the results still though. This will be Chelsea’s fifth major European final, and their strike rate has been great, winning three of the past four. Fernando Torres has been going well in Europe, scoring five goals in the Europa League this season, while Juan Mata has provided the second highest amount of assists in European competitions this season. Victor Moses is another one to watch, scoring in each of Chelsea’s last four Europa League matches.

As for Benfica, their big danger man is Oscar Cardozo. The striker has banged in five goals in his last five Europa League matches. Not only that, he has netted in six of Benfica’s last ten matches against English sides. He has scored eight in those ten matches, so definitely the Chelsea defence will have to watch for hm. Benfica have been one of the strongest sides in Europe this season, and they have lost just one of their last 11 continental fixtures (which was the first leg of the semi final against Fenerbahce). That semi final defeat was the first loss that they had slipped to in 38 competitive games. Incidentally, the first ever match that Benfica played in Amsterdam, resulted in them beating Real Madrid in the 1962 European Cup Final. They have lost their last six European finals though.

Benfica have a lot of strength, speed and creativity when they get themselves forward. This may not be as straight forward for Chelsea as the odds suggest. But the Blues are in good form, they may have the extra edge of professionalism in their side and a Chelsea One Goal Winning Margin for a price of 3/1 at online bookmaker Paddy Power looks good.

Form
Chelsea WWWWDW, Benfica WLWDL

Stat Attack
Benfica have lost their last six European finals
Chelsea have won three of their four previous European finals
Chelsea have lost one of eight previous meetings against Portuguese clubs
Benfica’s Oscar Cardozo has eight goals in his last ten against English sides