Will the near-champion’s downward spiral continue?
It’s been just two and a half months since Hearts—who had long seemed unbeatable—had their first national championship in 66 years snatched away by a 1-3 loss to Celtic Glasgow on the very last matchday. Following that, the successful team fell apart. The coach is gone, and several key players have left with him. There’s therefore good reason to believe that in the match between Benfica Lisbon and Hearts of Midlothian, the Jambos will suffer another defeat—especially since the Águias (meaning “the Eagles”) have recently made a strong statement.
After a 1–2 loss at St. Gallen, the Encarnados bounced back last Thursday with a 5–0 home win against the Swiss side and ultimately advanced to the next round in commanding fashion.
Hearts, on the other hand, were relegated from the Champions League qualifiers to the Europa League qualifiers—and in spectacular fashion. They lost 0–6 on aggregate against Sturm Graz. Following that, the revamped team under new coach Wouter Vrancken also botched their league opener, losing 1–2 to Aberdeen on Sunday.
Consequently, with no real alternative, the prediction for Benfica Lisbon’s match against Hearts of Midlothian is that the Scots will lose their fourth competitive match of the still-young 2026/27 season at the Estádio da Luz. Given Benfica’s 5–0 victory over St. Gallen, another drubbing is certainly possible. We’re therefore placing a promising -2 handicap bet on the Águias.
While the Jam Tarts have conceded a total of eight goals in their three competitive matches of the 2026/27 season, the Encarnados, on the other hand, have scored six goals in two competitive matches. The match in the Portuguese capital is therefore likely to be a high-scoring affair.
Benfica Lisbon – Hearts of Midlothian Head-to-Head Record
Head-to-Head: 2 – 0 – 0
Two international competitive matches have already taken place between the two clubs, although these date back nearly 65 years and are therefore irrelevant to the current matchup. In the first round of the 1960–61 European Cup, Benfica Lisbon prevailed over Hearts of Midlothian with an aggregate score of 5–1.
Benfica Lisbon – Hearts of Midlothian Prediction
Basically, both teams are going through a difficult period of rebuilding. However, while Benfica has offset the departures of players like António Silva with notable new signings such as Clément Lenglet, the Scots’ successful squad from last season has completely fallen apart, as evidenced by their extremely poor start.
The Jambos have lost all three competitive matches of the 2026/27 season with a combined score of 1–8, while the Encarnados cruised to a 5–0 victory over St. Gallen in the Europa League qualifiers last week.
Against this backdrop, we expect the Águias to be looking to capitalize on the Hearts’ struggling form in front of their home crowd on Thursday night, setting the stage for a playoff berth as early as the first leg. We are therefore placing a generous -2 handicap on the Encarnados.
