Why SL Benfica Are Favourites
SL Benfica should win this match on class thanks to the huge gap in individual quality and European experience, although there are still a few small nuances for the visitors.
The Portuguese side's attacking quality is incomparable with the hosts' defence: the link-up between Georgiy Sudakov and Vangelis Pavlidis should make the difference from the first minutes.
FC St. Gallen 1879 are clearly inferior in total squad value (by a factor of 12) and bench depth: it will be extremely difficult for the Swiss side to resist for the full 90 minutes.
The only intrigue is how quickly the new arrivals in midfield settle under Marco Silva, but against this opposition their quality buffer should be more than enough.
Form and Line-up FC St. Gallen 1879
The hosts went through a busy friendly schedule before the start of their European campaign. Enrico Maassen's coaching staff worked on an aggressive 4-3-3, relying on a mobile midfield three. They have managed to avoid serious personnel losses, apart from the injured Nino Weibel, who is continuing his recovery from a knee injury, and Behar Neziri, who has long been treating a cruciate ligament problem.
Key numbers for FC St. Gallen 1879:
The hosts have scored at least one goal in five of their last six official home matches.
Both teams to score landed in four of the Swiss club's last five matches.
FC St. Gallen 1879's only meeting with a Portuguese club ended in a heavy 1:4 defeat by Vitoria Guimaraes (December 2024).
Probable line-up (4-3-3): Lukas Watkowiak — Chima Okoroji, Jozo Stanic, Tom Gaal, Hugo Vandermersch — Mihailo Stevanovic, Lukas Daschner, Lukas Gortler — Christian Witzig, Aliou Balde, Carlo Boukhalfa.
Absentees: Nino Weibel (injured).
Form and Line-up SL Benfica
The Portuguese giants approached the start of the season through a series of friendlies against strong opponents: Flamengo (1:2) and Villarreal (2:0). The sale of Orkun Kokcu for 30 million euros allowed them to ease the wage bill and make targeted reinforcements, including the transfer of Jakub Kaminski.
Key numbers for SL Benfica:
The Portuguese side scored in three of their seven away European matches last season.
In two of the Eagles' three away matches in their most recent UEFA Europa League campaign (2023/24 season), they failed to score, and every match ended with Under 1.5 goals winning.
Their last away meeting with a team from Switzerland (Basel) in the 2017/18 season ended disastrously for SL Benfica — a 0:5 defeat.
Probable line-up (4-2-3-1): Anatoliy Trubin — Alexander Bah, Antonio Silva, Clement Lenglet, Samuel Dahl — Leandro Barreiro, Enzo Barrenechea — Rafa Silva, Georgiy Sudakov, Jakub Kaminski — Vangelis Pavlidis.
Absentees: Richard Rios, Dodi Lukebakio, Fredrik Aursnes, Andreas Schjelderup (all rested after the World Cup).
