Two sides that have made excellent starts to their respective league campaigns square off at the Estadio do Dragão on Tuesday evening, as FC Porto welcomes Manchester City to a hostile environment.
Both clubs have made 100% starts to their domestic campaigns, but something will have to give in this fixture as the two sides meet in their fifth European encounter. Interestingly, two of those four meetings thus far took place in the Europa League back in 2012 and the last time either side picked up a win was in 2020 during lockdown. The game ended 3-1 to Manchester City with goals from Sergio Aguero, Ilkay Gundogan and Ferran Torres. Luis Diaz grabbed the only goal for FC Porto during this game.
Last season's Portuguese champions have made a wonderful start to retaining their league crown with five wins from their opening five matches, scoring 11 goals and conceding only once. However, context needs to be provided that the standard of opposition is significantly weaker than the Premier League opposition that Manchester City have faced. Porto regained their Champions League status after two seasons away, during which they struggled in the Europa League, losing to AS Roma in 2024/25 and being eliminated by Nottingham Forest last season.
Enzo Maresca takes charge of his first European game as Manchester City manager on Tuesday evening, with the former Chelsea man having experienced Champions League football at Stamford Bridge. Maresca famously led the Blues to UEFA Conference League success in 2024/25, and in the latter half of 2025, Maresca achieved an incredible 3-0 home win against FC Barcelona in the Champions League.
Excluding the Community Shield defeat to Arsenal, it's been plain sailing for the new era under Enzo Maresca, as the former Leicester City manager has guided the Citizens to three straight wins against Coventry City (1-0), Crystal Palace (1-4) & AFC Bournemouth (2-1). Manchester City have added a plethora of players to their squad over the summer and are now in a position to compete on multiple fronts.
Manchester City have not looked particularly solid in their first three games, but the options in attack should be enough to overcome a Porto side who have not faced notable competition thus far, despite the stellar start to their campaign.
So we are opting for a 2-1 win for the away side.
FC Porto 1-2 Manchester City
