Predicting the first round of Champions League and Europa League matches
European club football is back, with plenty of entertaining matches to look forward to taking place up and down the continent across the next three days.
Portuguese football fans in particular have a lot to look forward to, particularly in the Europa League where they have four representatives, making Portugal the most well-represented nation of all in Europe's secondary competition.
Benfica, meanwhile, are Portugal's only side to be competing in the Champions League proper this season, having seen Porto fall short after going out to Krasnodar on the away goal rule.
Benfica vs RB Leipzig
In what is an exceedingly tough group to predict, this opening match really could go either way. On paper, most would agree that Leipzig, despite being the pot 4 team in the group, are likely slightly stronger than Benfica, currently unbeaten in the Bundesliga having just earned a draw against Bayern Munich at the weekend, while they also possess a great deal of quality in their team.
Timo Werner up front is undoubtedly the man to watch, the German international one of the best forwards in world football, though their quality goes far beyond their talisman, with the likes of Sabitzer, Forsberg and Orban also in their ranks.
Despite having only formed in 2009, Leipzig have come so far in such a short space of time, and are now genuine title candidates in the German top flight. While their Europa League campaign was unspectacular last season, falling out at the group stage behind Salzburg and Celtic, they go into this group as likely favourites to top it.
However, Benfica do have the home advantage, which could be a big factor in helping Benfica get something out of this match. It should be close, and if there is to be a winner in this one, it will likely be by just a single goal.
However, here we predict a draw, with both sides likely leaving the Luz content.
Prediction: 1-1.
PSV vs Sporting
Sporting haven't set the world alight this season, struggling to string together good results since the beginning of the new campaign.
They currently sit 5th in the league standings with 8 points from their opening 5 games.
They are also currently managerless, having seen Marcel Keizer sacked just four games into the season, citing a lack of progress and disappointing results to kickoff the season as reasons for his dismissal.
From the outside, the decision may look harsh, with Sporting having won both the Portuguese Cup and the Portuguese League Cup last season under Keizer, but in the league, which is certainly the priority for Sporting, they put up no fight to dethrone Benfica and Porto.
And in PSV, Sporting have what is by far their hardest match of the group stage, a match which they could afford to lose so long as they don't slip up in any of their other outings.
However, Sporting are unpredictable, and while they can suffer some highly disappointing results, can also put up a fight against some of the very best.
One reason for that is Bruno Fernandes. The Portuguese international is still, somehow, on the books of the Lisbon club, and is, on average, virtually involved in at least one goal every game. He's an extraordinary talent, and really can turn a game on its head.
PSV, unlike Sporting, have been great domestically this campaign, sitting 2nd in the league after earning 13 points from their opening 5 games, only behind table-toppers Ajax on goal difference.
No doubt this is going to be a tough task for Sporting, and although PSV have lost the likes of Hirving Lozano and Luuk de Jong, they strengthened well in the summer, bringing in pacey Portuguese winger Bruma and ex-Benfica striker Mitroglou, just to name a couple.
Prediction: 1-1.
FC Porto vs Young Boys
For a Europa League match, this is a tough one. Porto, Champions League perennials themselves, take on another Champions League calibre side in Young Boys who, although inevitably finished bottom of their Champions League group last season, performed well in the process, picking up 4 points in a tough group containing Manchester United, Juventus and Valencia.
However, while this is a tough match for the Europa League, Porto are a Champions League quality side, and in the Champions League, this would be perceived as a more than winnable match. Nothing less than victory should therefore be accepted.
Porto have stuttered a little themselves this season. They are only in this competition because they fell to a shock 3-2 home loss against Russian outfit Krasnodar, while in the league they have already lost against Gil Vicente and only beat Portimonense at the weekend thanks to a 97th minute Marcano header.
It's a season of transition for Porto, having sold the likes of Brahimi, Herrera, Felipe and Militão in the summer, while Iker Casillas is also out of action for the foreseeable future.
Regardless though, they should secure victory against the Swiss champions.
Prediction: 3-1 to Porto.
Wolves vs Braga
A very intriguing clash, this one, particularly for fans of Portuguese football. With Nuno Espirito Santo and his Portuguese contingent at Wolverhampton Wanderers hosting Ricardo Sá Pinto's Braga, there are lots of Portuguese players to watch on both sides.
Wolves were the team to fear from pot 3, and Braga will be disappointed to have been drawn alongside the English outfit.
However, Wolves haven't been at their best domestically and, while they have won all of their Europa League matches so far, including impressive back-to-back wins against Torino, they sit second from bottom in the Premier League, without a win in their opening 5 league matches and with just 3 points on the board.
It is early days, of course, though there is at least a bit more fragility to Nuno's side who were so impressive last season. Defensively, in particular, is where they have shown struggles, having conceded 8 goals in their last two games.
For fans of Portuguese football, it'll be a surprise to see a Nuno side being opened up so regularly, the defensive side of his Porto team undoubtedly its strength in the 2016-17 season.
Braga have had troubles of their own though, of course. Their season has been very similar to Wolves’ in that respect, Braga having been so impressive in the Europa League, beating Spartak Moscow both home and away to reach the group stage, though in the league, they have just 4 points from their opening 5 games, sitting only one point and one place above the relegation zone.
They have impressed despite not winning, though. Against Sporting, for example, they were on the end of a defeat, though common consensus is that they fully deserved to get all three points, let alone one.
It was a similar sort of story against Setubal, where they lost 1-0. They created good opportunities and could have gotten a goal or two themselves, key man Ricardo Horta striking the post with a delightful curling effort in the first half shortly before flashing a volley just wide, and Setubal's eventual goal was beyond scrappy (worth watching if you haven't seen it yet), but Braga couldn't make their dominance count.
Wolves fans are expecting to win this one, some believe it will even be comfortable, though Braga's experience in European competition will certainly come in handy and should make this a closer battle than some expect. Wolves’ home advantage should give them the edge. Just.
Prediction: 2-1 to Wolves.
Standard Liege vs Vitoria Guimarães
If Vitoria SC want any chance at all of getting out of a highly challenging group also containing Arsenal and Eintracht Frankfurt, they will need to beat Standard Liege both home and away. This is therefore a must win match.
The good news for Guimarães is that Standard are beatable. The bad news is that their Belgian opponents will be thinking the exact same thing about Guimarães.
However, Guimarães have been in great form in the Europa League, having gone through 3 rounds to get to the group stage and having upset the odds by getting past FCSB in the previous round.
They also come into this match having just secured an impressive 5-1 victory over Aves, so will be full of confidence. I can see them dominating this match and having the opportunities to win, but just falling short.
If they do win, you can expect Davidson and Rochinha to be crucial.
Prediction: 1-1.
