Nottingham Forest vs Porto – Preview, Predictions and Best Bets

Forest are unbeaten in five matches in all competitions and drew the first leg 1-1 in Portugal. The Dragons have lost two of their five away matches in this competition this season.

Nottingham Forest Form

Forest are currently unbeaten in five matches across all competitions. They won 3-1 away at Fenerbahce in the Europa League, before a late 1-0 home loss to Liverpool. Forest progressed in Europe despite a 2-1 home loss to Fenerbahce in the second leg. In the league, they followed a 2-1 loss at Brighton with a 2-2 draw at Man City.

They lost 1-0 on home turf to Midtjylland in the Europa League and could only draw 0-0 at home to Fulham. A 2-1 win in Denmark at Midtjylland was followed by a win on penalties. They won 3-0 at Tottenham to end a seven-match run without a league win. Last week, a strong 1-1 draw in Porto in the first leg was followed by a 1-1 home draw vs Aston Villa.

Nottingham Forest Team News

Key midfield Elliot Anderson missed the first leg due to suspension, and is now an injury doubt for the second leg. Chris Wood is back from a long injury to boost options in the attack.

Coach Vítor Pereira is without Willy Boly and right back Nicola Savona. With a huge game against Burnley on the horizon, he may risk a bit of rotation for this match. Stefan Ortega, Ryan Yates and Nicolas Dominguez could all start.

Nottingham Forest Motivation

Forest and their fans dream of a European semi-final. They will go all out to win this second leg in 90 minutes.

However, Premier League survival is the main goal. The coach and the players will have one eye on their key match on Sunday vs Burnley.

Porto Form

Porto sit top of their domestic league with a five-point gap over Sporting Lisbon, having played a match more. They won 2-1 at Stuttgart in Germany in the Europa League round-of-16 and won the second leg 2-0 at home to progress to the quarter-finals.

They have since won 2-1 at Braga before a surprise 2-2 home draw in the league vs Famalicao. Last week’s first leg saw them put up 2.16 xG and outshot Forest 16-6 in a 1-1 draw. They won 3-1 at Estoril on Sunday as they made seven changes to their starting XI.

Porto Team News

Coach Francesco Farioli remains without two of his top strikers for this match. Samu Aghehowa and Luuk de Jong are absent, so Terem Moffi will play up top. Martim Fernandes is ruled out in midfield.

Left winger Oskar Pietuszewski is unavailable due to a legal issue. Thiago Silva is expected to start with Jakub Kiwior dropping down to the bench.

Porto Motivation

Porto will be determined to continue their European journey. They rested seven players over the weekend, showing that this match is top priority.

The Dragons will attack and look to dominate possession. They spent most of the first leg on the front foot.

Key Stats

• Nottingham Forest are unbeaten in their last 5 matches in all competitions
• Forest are winless in 7 home matches (3 losses, 4 draws)
• Porto have lost 2 of their last 7 away matches
• Porto have lost 2 of their 5 away Europa League matches this season

Verdict

Another very close match awaits. Forest are struggling at home so backing a draw and extra time looks like excellent value.

Best Bet: Draw at 3.05

Alternate Bet: Porto to quality at 2.05

High Value Bet: Porto to quality after Extra Time at 12.00