Tim Sherwood and his Tottenham side face a daunting task on Thursday as they must overturn a 3-1 defeat in order to reach the quarter-finals. Such an achievement could ease the pressure on the Spurs boss who is under fire after three consecutive defeats in the last two weeks. The first of those defeats was a 4-0 at Chelsea, then the setback at White Hart Lane against Benfica and last but not least the North London derby defeat at home to Arsenal.
Benfica are unbeaten in 10 European home games, their last defeat was a 2-0 setback to Barcelona in 2012 in the Champions League group stages. Despite Tottenham's recent defeats, winger Andros Townsend is confident of progressing to the quarter-finals. "It's another big game on Thursday. There is still a lot to play for," he said. "We've got nothing to lose. We're two goals behind from the home leg, so we can go there, have a go and see what happens."
Benfica are undefeated in all competitions since a 1-0 loss to Olympiakos in the Champions League at the start of November. They look set to clinch the Portuguese league title as they lead the table with a seven-point cushion over second-placed Sporting Lisbon. Tottenham's Jan Vertonghen and Benfica's Silvio are suspended for the match while Tottenham have another two centre backs injured: Michael Dawson (hamstring) and Vlad Chiriches (back).
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Benfica win - 4/6
Draw - 3/1
Tottenham win - 19/4
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