- Benfica form: Benfica have won 6 of their last 10 (D2, L2) and lost 1 in 6 at home.
- Hearts form: Hearts have won 5 of their last 10 (D1, L4) and are on a 2-game losing streak.
- Hearts away record: Hearts have an away record of W2, D1 and L3 across all competitions this season.
Hearts will have their hands full at Estadio da Luz
Odds and expectations
SL Benfica are the clear favorite at 1.18 ahead of Hearts Of Midlothian FC for this UEFA Europa League Qualification 2026 tie. The draw is around 6.6, but that price should be lower, so we will take the underdog price on a Benfica home win and the stats stack up well for a home clean sheet, too.
Form and recent results
Benfica are the only team in form ahead of this one with 3 wins and 2 defeats in their last 5 and on a 2-game winning streak, while Hearts are on a 2-game losing skid after 2 wins and 3 defeats in their previous 5. The last 2 results for the Edinburgh club were both defeats to SK Sturm Graz in Champions League qualifying, first losing 4-0 away and then 0-2 at home, so they may have a little bit of that rust from those games to shake off.
An open game is on the cards
Marco Silva's side are still looking to make the transition from a possession-based, controlled game to one where they can be sharper in the half spaces and play through the middle faster. Wouter Vrancken has changed the mindset of Hearts to be more positive and attack the game, but the early signs are that they are a little more susceptible to being caught in transition and Benfica can hurt them if they chase the game.
- Vangelis Pavlidis is Benfica's danger man with 4 goals in 2 UEFA Europa League Qualification matches and 6 of his team's 14 goals in their last 5 games, while Amadou Ba-Sy is Hearts' spark with 2 goals in 5 matches.
- The last two Benfica games were 5-1 and 5-0 wins at home, the former against CF Os Belenenses in a friendly and the latter against FC St. Gallen in Europa League qualifying, so they are finding their groove.
- Over 2.5 goals at 1.47 is a short price, but we will back it anyway as a both teams to score – No bet at 1.6 should land in favour of the home side.
