Newcastle United vs S L Benfica, UEFA Champions League 2025-26, Today Match Prediction

Newcastle United vs S L Benfica Match Prediction & Analysis

The third week of the Champions League brings a fascinating clash to St. James' Park, pitting the surprising Newcastle United against a struggling SL Benfica. Newcastle, currently sitting comfortably in 11th place with a crucial win under their belt from the last matchday, appears to be finding their rhythm in the tournament. In stark contrast, the Portuguese giants Benfica have stumbled out of the gate, losing their opening two fixtures.

History slightly favors the visitors, with Benfica holding a 1-0-1 head-to-head record. But with the match set for October 22nd at 12:30 A.M. IST in Newcastle, the pressure is squarely on Benfica to arrest their slide against a confident Magpies side.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Newcastle United Preview

Newcastle have been one of those sides that consistently make deep runs in UCL play and hope to do it again. Seeing that Nick Woltemade, one goal, has already made an impact with his deep runs he creates, he should be a key point of this offense with Anthony Gordon following him. Knowing that Gordon has already scored twice as well, he has shown a great ability to find open space and struck three goals during his first two matches.

 As his athletic abilities is something that has taken a huge rise during the last couple years, it has helped Anthony Elanga, 21 progression passes received, making him one of the key pressure options. In the middle, Sandro Tonali, 11 progression passes, has been a vital aspect of them developing an attack and keeps on keeping up speed with Bruno Guimaraes. 

Seeing that Guimaraes, 9 progression passes, also creates a lot of his own opportunities, this team will be on the attack several times. At the back-end, Tino Livarmento, 3 blocks, and Keiran Trippier are key pieces in helping goalie Nick Pope dominate. 

Newcastle United Probable Starting Lineup -  Nick Pope(GK), Kieran Trippier(D), Fabian Schar(D), Dan Burn(D), Tino Livarmento(D), Bruno Guimaraes(MD), Sandro Tonali(MD), Joelinton(MD), Anthony Elanga(MD), Anthony Gordon(MD), Nick Woltemade(FW)

S L Benfica Preview

Benfica have started this tournament on the wrong foot and hope to fix it fast before things become more challenging. With Vangelis Pavalidis, one goal so far, being their main man up-front, he will be required to play a key role in scoring, as he showed his great abilities last Champions League, too. 

Knowing that Fredrik Aursunes, 10 progression passes received, has been a top-tier attacking option, he has also tried moving from his midfield position and creating a nice duo with Pavildis to give them some great push forward.  With Enzo Barrenechea, 12 progression passes, being another key piece that pushes the ball forward, he has been quite impactful with the through balls and gets positions more centered than trying to hit the wings more. 

Richard Rios, 10 progression passes, is another great option to set up an attack, while the heart of this team is on defense with Amar Dedic, 7 tackles, and Samuel Dahl making an impact to help Anatoily Trubin dominate in net. 

SL Benfica Probable Starting Lineup -  Anatoily Trubin(GK), Samuel Dahl(D), Nicolas Otamendi(D), Antonio Silva(D), Amar Dedic(D), Andreas Schjelderup(MD), Richard Rios(MD), Leonardo Barreiro(MD), Enzo Barrenechea(MD), Fredrik Aursunes(MD), Vangelis Pavlidis(FW)

NEWCASTLE UNITED vs S L BENFICA
Winning Prediction

Newcastle United enters this fixture looking like the far more accomplished side and holds a decisive advantage in both attack and defense. The only realistic threats posed by the opposition come from the likes of Vangelis Pavlidis and Fredrik Aursnes.

If Newcastle's defensive unit can effectively isolate and neutralize these two pivotal players—thereby eliminating the opposing team's creative and scoring outlets—the Magpies are strongly positioned to control the match and secure a comfortable 2-0 victory.

Newcastle United to Win (2-0)

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