FC Porto vs Arsenal: Betting Tips, Match Prediction & Preview

Estadio do Dragao hosts Porto and Arsenal in the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16 this Wednesday. Both sides will be looking for a lead to take into the second leg as they look to get past a Round that has been tricky for both sides in the past.

• Arsenal to win @ 4/6 on William Hill
• Only one team to score @ ⅘ on Paddy Power
• Over 2.5 goals @ 8/11 on William Hill

These odds are correct at the time of publication and are subject to change.

Date: 21/02/2024

Kick-off time: 20:00

Location: Estadio do Dragao

Arsenal finished top of Group B by four points, winning four of the six games and only losing once and are in good form in their domestic league. Porto, on the other hand, finished second in Group H but did finish on equal points with Barcelona, but with a worse head-to-head record.

Porto currently sit third in Liga Portugal after 22 games. The Dragons have 15 wins, three draws and four losses, leaving them on 48 points, four points from top of the league Benfica.

The Dragons haven’t seen past the Quarter-finals in the Champions League since they won the competition back in 2004 - a 3 - 0 win over Monaco. The last season in this competition saw Porto exit at this stage of the competition, losing 1 - 0 on aggregate to Inter Milan.

Arsenal, on the other hand, currently sit second in the Premier League. In 25 games, The Gunners have 17 wins, four draws and four losses which leaves them on 55 points, two points behind league leaders Liverpool.

In the Champions League, Arsenal haven’t made it past the Round of 16 since 2011, though this is their first time back in the competition since 2017. The Gunners have made the Final once, back in 2006, where they lost 2 - 1 to Barcelona.

Porto and Arsenal have met six times in their histories, with the first meeting coming back in 2006. Arsenal have the marginal lead in the fixture with three wins in comparison to Porto’s two wins, with one draw so far.

This fixture has been grounds for goals in the past, with three games ending with more than three goals. In fact, the last time out saw five goals, all from Arsenal. A hat-trick from Nicklas Bendtner and goals from Samir Nasri and Emmanuel Eboue.

FC Porto Team News

Sergio Conceicao only has one injury to manage this week, that being the long-term injury to Ivan Marcano - a cruciate ligament tear he sustained in September.

Arsenal Team News

Mikel Arteta could be missing the likes of Gabriel Jesus, Thomas Partey, Jurrien Timber, Fabio Vieira, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Emile Smith Rowe this week.

In their last five games in all competitions, Porto have three wins, one draw and one loss.

Wendell opened the scoring in the eighth minute for Porto and along with Evanlison, Galeno and Alan Varela, Wendell grabbed a second in the second half to give Porto the 5 - 0 win over Moreirense.

The trip to Farense saw Evanilson and Varela give Porto the 2 - 0 lead at halftime. A penalty from Bruno Duarte got Farense on the scoresheet, but another goal from Evanilson gave Porto the 3 - 1 win.

Despite having 73% of the possession and 24 shots with five of them on target, Porto couldn’t find the back of the net. Even with the red card to Rio Ave’s Emmanuel Boateng, Porto were unable to score and had to settle for a 0 - 0 draw.

Rafa Mujica gave Arouca the lead in the first minute but a penalty from Evanilson equalised for Porto before the ten minute mark. A penalty from Cristo Gonzalez regained the lead for Arouca before halftime and Jason added a third on the 60 minute mark. Francisco Conceicao did get Porto back into the game with four minutes to go but the 96th minute red card to Fabio Rafael Rodrigues Cardoso meant that Arouca held on for the 3 - 2 win.

The last time out for Porto was against Estrela Amadora. Galeno and Joao Mario both scored in the 2 - 0 win for Porto, with Estrela Amadora having just 31% of the possession.

In their last five games in all competitions, Arsenal have five wins.

A brace from Gabriel Magalhaes gave Arsenal the 2 - 0 lead over Crystal Palace at halftime. Leandro Trossard added a third before the 60 minute mark and Gabriel Martinelli scored twice in one minute in extra time to give Arsenal the 5 - 0 win.

The trip to Nottingham Forest saw Jesus open the scoring in the 65th minute and Bukayo Saka doubled the lead just seven minutes later. Taiwo Awoniyi did get Nottingham Forest in the game, but only in the 89th minute as Arsenal held on for a 2 - 1 win.

Saka was on the scoresheet again against Liverpool but an own goal from Magalhaes levelled the game before the halftime whistle. Martinelli regained the lead for Arsenal and following the late red card to Ibrahima Konate, Trossard scored to secure the 3 - 1 win.

A brace from Saka and goals from William Saliba, Magalhaes, Trossard and Declan Rice gave Arsenal the dominant 6 - 0 win, with West Ham only managing one shot on target.

The most recent outing for Arsenal was against Burnley. Martin Odegaard opened the scoring in the fourth minute and Saka’s first goal doubled the lead before halftime. Saka completed his brace two minutes into the second half and was joined on the scoresheet by Trossard and Kai Havertz in the 5 - 0 win for Arsenal.

Despite Arsenal pushing for the title in the Premier League, it’s likely they’ll still encounter success in Europe. Against Porto, it’s likely that Arsenal will rack up a healthy lead, even being the only ones on the scoresheet. Porto 0-2 Arsenal

FC Porto vs Arsenal will be broadcasted on TNT Sports in the U.K. and can be followed via radio on BBC Five Live or TalkSport.

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