Benfica vs Auckland City prediction: WORLD: FIFA Club World Cup betting tips on match 2025-06-19 16:00.
[p]Benfica battled from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw against Boca Juniors in their Group C opener. Bigger things will be expected of them when they meet amateur side Auckland City, who were thumped 10-0 by Bayern Munich on matchday one. [/p]
[p]Match News and Current Form[/p]
[p]Benfica’s 2-2 draw completed their first four-game run without a competitive win (D3, L1) since April 2023, with their poor form costing them both the Liga Portugal and Taça de Portugal titles to Sporting CP. Manager Bruno Lage can’t afford for his side to continue underperforming now that the race for second place in Group C could come down to the overall goal difference of both Benfica and Boca Juniors, making it imperative that the Portuguese side go for the largest possible winning margin here against a side they lead by 5,058 places in Opta’s world club rankings.[/p]
[p]Everything was stacked against Auckland City in their first game and the scoreboard showed it as they became the first side to concede ten goals in a single Club World Cup (CWC) game. Proudly representing the “99.9% of footballers who aren’t professional”, the reigning New Zealand National League champions can only hope to improve throughout the tournament and perhaps even find the back of the net against the odds. You’d have to go back to 2016 to find the last time they scored a CWC goal though, and even then it was against Japanese side Kashima Antlers.[/p]
[p]Head-to-Head History[/p]
[p]Auckland City’s 10-0 loss to Bayern Munich was their first competitive fixture against a European side, while Benfica have never previously faced Oceanian opposition.[/p]
[p]Hot Stats and Streaks[/p]
[p]Benfica’s last five matches saw both teams score.[/p]
[p]The second half was the highest-scoring half in only one of Benfica’s last six games. [/p]
[p]Auckland City have lost all six CWC matches since finishing third in 2014 by an aggregate score of 21-1.[/p]
[p]Only one of Auckland City’s last six games saw both teams score.[/p]
[p]Key Players to Watch and Missing Players[/p]
[p]Nicolás Otamendi continues to defy his age with some stellar performances, scoring and earning the Flashscore Player of the Match award in three of his last seven matches. Auckland City’s best chance of scoring could come through Myer Bevan, who scored in both the semi-final and final of the 2025 OFC Champions League.[/p]
[p]Andrea Belotti was sent off against Boca Juniors on matchday one and will miss this game. There were no reported injuries for either side following the first matchday.[/p]
[p]Betting Analysis[/p]
[p]Now that Benfica need to pursue goal difference in case they finish level on points with someone in the race for second place, they’ll need to be ruthless. Their sloppy recent performances and struggles in the evening heat make an Auckland City +6.5 goal handicap seem attractive.[/p]
[p][i]Author: Aaron Murphy[/i][/p]
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