Tottenham Hotspur have a tough schedule in March. Last week, they have lost to Chelsea 4-0. They are going to meet Arsenal this weekend. Their premier league games remaining in this month are against Southampton and against Liverpool at Anfield. As if the schedule is not frightening enough, in between these games, they have two Europa League pre-quarterfinal matches against Benfica.

The first of these games is going to be held on this Thursday at White Hart Lane.

The Spurs have had a mixed season in the EPL. In fact, they have got more points from away matches than from home games. Their performance was marred by inconsistency. Yet, they have been amazingly consistent at the Europa League. The team has lost just one of the eight games in the league – an away 1-0 loss against Dnipro. They made amends for it by thrashing the Ukrainian outfit 3-1 at home.

Benfica are flying high in the Portuguese league. They almost have one hand at the Liga Sagres crown. But they have failed so far to amass any momentum for a European conquest. They came to the Europa league after the early ouster from the UEFA Champions League. They won both the matches against PAOK in the previous round. Tottenham is going to be a much tougher opponent than that.

Kyle Walker’s injury is a blow to the Spurs. Emmanuel Adebayor and Roberto Soldado pose the greatest danger to the Benfica’s defence. There are some exciting players in Benfica’s forward line-up: Rodrigo, Lima and the newly fit Óscar Cardozo.

Porto-Napoli Prediction

Tottenham 2.40 @ Bet365.com