Porto-Arsenal is a match valid for the first leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League and is played Wednesday at 9 p.m.: live TV, streaming, likely lineups, predictions.
Arsenal’s goals, in addition to staying in the title race in the Premier League for a long time, include getting as far as possible in the Champions League, a competition that the Gunners are back in this year after a long absence.
The Londoners won their group without any major problems, scoring 13 points (16 goals scored and only 4 conceded) and clinching qualification well in advance.
It must be said that the opponents were all within the reach of Mikel Arteta’s men: in fact, none of PSV Eindhoven, Lens and Sevilla has the same caliber as the club from the English capital. In the league, after a moment of tarnish between Christmas and New Year’s, Arsenal has started to run again and is doing so in a brisk manner. In the last five days of the Premier League, the Gunners have scored only victories and, more importantly, their goalscoring average has risen considerably. In the space of a few days Odegaard and his teammates have trimmed 3 goals against Liverpool, 6 against West Ham and 5 against Burnley. An impressive streak that has allowed them to keep pace with Jurgen Klopp’s Reds, who are first in the standings with a two-point lead, and Manchester City, who, however, still have a game to make up.
Porto hunting for a feat
Porto, Arsenal’s opponent in the round of 16, is therefore warned. The Dragoes led by Sergio Conceiçao will have to go beyond their limits to eliminate the Premier League’s second force.
In the Champions League, however, the Lusitanians have always sold their skins dearly in recent years, making more emblazoned clubs suffer. The Italians know something about this, with Inzaghi’s Inter in the past edition managing to dispel, with no little difficulty, what had now become something of a taboo. Porto, which qualified for the round of 16 as second in the same group as Barcelona – despite scoring 12 points like the Catalans – in the Liga de Portugal for now is out of the fight for first place.
Sporting has four more points, leading Benfica seven. A gap that has widened further after the unexpected defeat they suffered two weeks ago with Arouca and partly redeemed last Saturday with a 2-0 win at Estrela Amadora, felled by goals from Joao Mario and Galeno. In the first leg match Conceiçao will have to do without the injured Marcano and Zaidu, Arsenal will be missing Timber, Zinchenko and Partey but Arteta is also anxious about the condition of Gabriel Jesus, Tomiyasu and former duty man Fabio Vieira.
The Prediction
Two teams that are experiencing almost diametrically opposite moments. Arsenal dominant in the Premier League, Porto on a slight upswing in their own league but still not fully recovered. In the three previous matches played in Portugal, however, the Gunners have never won: Conceiçao’s team will focus mainly on defense and game organization but it may not be enough to avoid defeat against an Arsenal in splendid form. It is not out of the question that both will score.
The probable lineups of Porto-Arsenal
PORTO (4-2-3-1): Diogo Costa; João Mário, Pepe, Otávio, Wendell; Varela, Nico González; Galeno, Pepê, Francisco Conceição; Evanilson.
ARSENAL (4-3-3): Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Kiwior; Ødegaard, Rice, Havertz; Saka, Trossard, Martinelli.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-2