St. Gallen vs Benfica prediction 23.07.2026 | Europa League Qualifiers
St. Gallen
Kick off:
Date:
Benfica
1
8.00
X
5.10
2
1.34
Contents
- Competition: Europa League Qualifiers, 2nd Round, 1st Leg
- Date: Thursday, 23rd July, 2026
- Kickoff: 19:00 UK / 20:00 CEST
- Venue: Kybunpark (St. Gallen)
On Thursday evening, nine duels will take place in the Europa League Qualifiers 2nd round. One of the most interesting duels will be between Swiss Cup winner St. Gallen and Portugal's 3rd-best team from last season, Benfica, in their first-ever H2H game. This will be the first official match of the season, as both teams have only played friendly matches thus far.
Let's break down the game and find the best possible bet for this Europa League Qualifiers tie.
St. Gallen team overview
St. Gallen had an excellent last season, winning the Cup trophy, their first major trophy since the 1999/2000 season when they won the league title. Besides a Cup title, they also finished 2nd in the Super League. However, despite their excellent season, they are not among the favorites to win the Super League, with the odds considering them as "only" the fifth-best team before the start.
During the offseason, they were pretty passive, and we doubt they improved the team. In fact, with striker Alessandro Vogt leaving, we believe they got weaker on offense. Vogt was the team's top goalscorer, with 18 goals in 41 appearances.
Last matches of St. Gallen
-
St. Gallen
0 : 3
Norwich City
Club Friendlies 3
-
Lyon
6 : 3
St. Gallen
Club Friendlies 3
-
FC Winterthur
0 : 1
St. Gallen
Club Friendlies 3
-
St. Gallen
3 : 2
Rheindorf Altach
Club Friendlies 3
-
Stade Lausanne-Ouchy
0 : 3
St. Gallen
Swiss Cup
St. Gallen lineup
Goalkeeper
-
1
Lawrence Ati Zigi
Defenders
-
28
Hugo Vandermersch
-
4
Jozo Stanic
-
26
Tom Gaal
-
36
Chima Okoroji
Midfielders
-
16
Lukas Görtler
-
11
Carlo Boukhalfa
-
6
Behar Neziri
-
7
Christian Witzig
Forwards
-
14
Aliou Baldé
-
10
Lukas Daschner
Benfica team overview
Benfica came into this season after a truly strange one. The Eagles went the entire Liga Portugal undefeated under Mourinho but still only finished 3rd with 80 points in 34 rounds (23 wins and 11 draws). During the offseason, Mourinho left to join Real Madrid and Marco Silva replaced him on the bench.
When it comes to transfers, Benfica has a pretty much unchanged squad, at least for now. However, the team will most likely soon be without Andreas Schjelderup, who has been really good at the World Cup. According to speculations, Tottenham leads the race for him, and the price is set at around 50 million euros. Moreover, there are speculations that Antonio Silva and Gianluca Prestianni could also leave the club, while Jhon Duran just arrived. The biggest difference (at the moment) compared to last season is Otamendi's departure, which is replaced by Clément Lenglet.
For the upcoming game, the players who competed in the World Cup returned and should be available.
Last matches of Benfica
-
Benfica
2 : 0
Villarreal
Club Friendlies 3
-
Benfica
1 : 2
Flamengo
Club Friendlies 3
-
Estoril
1 : 3
Benfica
Liga Portugal
-
Benfica
2 : 2
Braga
Liga Portugal
-
Famalicao
2 : 2
Benfica
Liga Portugal
Benfica lineup
Goalkeeper
-
1
Anatoliy Trubin
Defenders
-
17
Amar Dedic
-
4
Antonio Silva
-
44
Tomas Araujo
-
26
Samuel Dahl
Midfielders
-
8
Fredrik Aursnes
-
20
Richard Rios
-
18
Leandro Barreiro
Forwards
-
14
Vangelis Pavlidis
-
21
Andreas Schjelderup
-
11
Dodi Lukébakio
Prediction
St. Gallen won the Cup last season, but the bookies still do not consider them one of the best teams in Switzerland and do not have too much faith that they can have a great season. We believe that the departure of their top goalscorer, Alessandro Vogt, will be a massive problem. Also, in Europe, they have rarely had success, and most of their good results came against teams much worse than Benfica.
Benfica, on the other hand, are a team that often have deep runs in Europe. Last season, they reached the Champions League 1/16 Finals, and despite being eliminated by Real Madrid, they did well, proving they can compete with the very best teams in Europe. With very few changes to the squad, we believe they should not have too many problems with teams like St. Gallen.
Simply, the difference in quality is too great, and considering all the above, we expect Benfica to secure a comfortable win in Switzerland.
3 Reasons why Benfica should win and cover the -1 AH spread
- St. Gallen suffered big losses in the previous two friendlies against Norwich and Lyon
- St. Gallen lost their top goalscorer, Alessandro Vogt, and failed to bring in a replacement
- Benfica's total market value is 397.5 million euros, compared to St. Gallen's 32.05 million
Main prediction St. Gallen - Benfica
AH2 (-1)
Best Odds:
Melbet
1.60
