Liverpool's hectic and season-defining April schedule is underway with all three remaining competitions still up for grabs including the Champions League. The Reds take the trip to Portugal where they face a Benfica side widely tipped as the underdogs in the competition and in this clash.
The Reds are the favourites with Betfred at 2/5 while Benfica are 15/2 and a draw is 19/5. The bookies are pricing heavily in favour of the visitors to go through over the two-legs at 1/14 while the hosts are 13/2 to shock Jurgen Klopp's side. The German will no doubt be hoping to get his side in the best possible position as they look to win an incredible seventh Champions League trophy - they are 2/1, behind Manchester City at 15/8, to lift it.
Klopp's men are already League Cup champions after beating Chelsea on penalties back in February and the elusive quadruple is still up for grabs. Huge ties are on the way this month including FA Cup semi-final and a title-decider against Manchester City, the Merseyside Derby, Champions League semi-final and Manchester United at home too - all before their tie with Newcastle United on April 30.
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It is safe to say the form and momentum is firmly in Liverpool's camp right now with in the league, cup and in Europe too. The likes of Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and Diogo Jota doing the business up front along with Luis Diaz and Roberto Firmino displaying the depth they have in attack alone.
For Benfica, they will be looking for a similar smash and grab moment that took them to this round ahead of Dutch giants Ajax. This will be the Portuguese side's first quarter-finals match since 2016 but they suffered yet another domestic setback losing to Braga as the gap on the top two increased to nine points.
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Team stats
Both teams in matches involving Liverpool have scored in 19 matches out of 48 in all competitions including four in eight in the Champions League while for Benfica it is 27 from 47 including three from 12 in Europe. Both teams to score is 10/11.
For the Reds, they have finished 28 matches in all competitions with three or more goals including four in the Champions League while Benfica have finished this way 27 times in all competitions and five times in the Champions League. Over 2.5 goals is 4/7.
Players to watch
The lethal trio of Sadio Mane, Mo Salah and Diogo Jota have scored a combined 62 goals in all competitions this season alone while Salah is joint-third with Karim Benzema in the Champions League list of top scorers. The Egyptian has scored six goals away from home in Europe - more than anyone else in the competition.
Darwin Nunez will be the main threat for Liverpool to worry about in this European clash. The Uruguayan striker, who has been linked with Brighton & Hove Albion, Arsenal and Man United, has picked up 27 goals and three assists in 34 appearances in all competitions including four in eight Champions League matches.
H2H
This will be the 11th meeting between the two sides with Liverpool picking up six wins and four losses against Benfica. The last time these two sides met was back in 2010 during the Europa League knockout stages which Liverpool won 5-3 on aggregate.
After this match, Benfica would have faced Liverpool more times than any other Portuguese side including Porto who have played the Reds 10 times - losing seven and drawing three times in their history. Only Benfica have beaten Liverpool more than once while Vitoria Setubal and SC Braga have picked up wins against the Merseyside club.
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