Preview: Standard Liege vs. Benfica - prediction, team news, lineups

Benfica travel to Standard Liege in the Europa League on Thursday night for the first time in their history, hoping to finish ahead of Rangers at the top of Group D.

Meanwhile, Liege have lost four of their five group stages matches this campaign and have already been eliminated from the competition.

Match preview

Benfica have responded to their two defeats in the Portuguese top-flight with back-to-back victories, which has moved them up to second in the Primeira Liga table.

A 2-1 away win against Maritimo was followed by a home victory over Pacos de Ferreira by the same scoreline, with a 94th-minute winner scored by striker Luca Waldschmidt.

Jorge Jesus's side also thrashed Lech Poznan 4-0 in between their league triumphs to keep their hopes of finishing top of their Europa League group alive.

They will however have to rely on Rangers, who have won 21 of their 25 matches in all competitions this season, dropping points. Benfica need to better the Scottish side's result if they are to top Group D, as the Gers have a better head-to-head record against them.

Benfica's 3-0 win over Standard Liege in October was their only previous encounter with the Belgian side in a European competition.

A victory for the Eagles would make them the first ever Portuguese team to win away at Liege in a European match.

Standard Liege performed well in their last Europa League game despite losing 3-2 away at Rangers last week.

The Belgians twice led after Maxime Lestienne and Duje Cop struck either side of Connor Goldson's equaliser, but goals from James Tavernier and Scott Arfield turned it around for Rangers who secured the three points.

That result confirmed Liege's elimination from the Europa League group stages for the fourth successive season.

Liege have also struggled in recent weeks domestically, drawing their last four Belgian Pro League matches which has seen them drop to fifth in the table, six points behind Genk at the top.

Philippe Montanier's side, who have lost just one of their last 16 home matches, will try to use Thursday's fixture as an opportunity to get back to winning ways and carry form into the rest of their domestic campaign.

Standard Liege Europa League form: LLLWL Standard Liege form (all competitions): DDWDLD

Benfica Europa League form: WWDDW Benfica form (all competitions): LWDWWW

Team News

Standard Liege defender Zinho Vanheusden (cruciate ligament rupture) and forward Selim Amallah (sprained ankle) are both injured and unavailable for selection.

Striker Obbi Oulare is back from suspension and is in contention to start up front alongside Maxime Lestienne and Michel Ange Balikwisha.

Benfica's Jean-Clair Todibo (Achilles tendon) and Andre Almeida (cruciate ligament rupture) are both out injured.

Adel Taarabt, Julian Weigl and Darwin Nunez are all out of self-isolation and are in contention to play on Thursday night.

Standard Liege possible starting lineup: Bodart; Fai, Dussenne, Bokadi, Laifis, Gavory; Raskin, Cimirot; Lestienne, Oulare, Balikwisha

Benfica possible starting lineup: Vlachodimos; Gilberto, Otamendi, Vertonghen, Grimaldo; Rafa, Weigl, Pizzi, Everton; Seferovic, Nunez

We say: Standard Liege 1-3 Benfica

Benfica are without an away clean sheet in all European competitions since October 2016 but come up against a Liege side who are struggling to win matches. The Portuguese outfit should have the strength to overcome the Belgians on Thursday night.

Top betting tip

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