Benfica have began the season in brilliant form, and we think this could be a gruelling return to the Champions League group stage for their Israeli opponents as a result.
The Portuguese side will know they may require two wins against Maccabi Haifa if they are to oust either PSG or Juventus for one of the top two spots in Group H.
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Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Benfica win with a probability of 64.3%. A draw had a probability of 21.9% and a win for Maccabi Haifa had a probability of 13.78%.
The most likely scoreline for a Benfica win was 1-0 with a probability of 14.43%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (13.24%) and 2-1 (9.37%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.21%), while for a Maccabi Haifa win it was 0-1 (5.57%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 13.2% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Benfica would win this match.
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