Porto vs Chelsea: Chelsea will aim to return to winning ways after a devastating defeat to West Bromwich Albion as they travel to Seville for the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final with Porto on Wednesday.
Thomas Tuchel’s first loss as Chelsea Manager came in a humbling 5-2 loss to West Brom, in which Thiago Silva was sent off.
Porto were the team to get in the draw but are no walkover after overcoming Juventus to book their place in the Quarter Final while Chelsea dumped out Atletico Madrid in the last 16.
The Blues eased to a 3-0 aggregate success over Atletico to book their spot in the quarter-finals which is their first time since the 2013-14 season, and they have scored 11 goals and conceded just one in their four away victories in the tournament this season.
Due to coronavirus travel restrictions, both legs of their quarter-finals of Porto vs Chelsea will take place at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan, Sevilla.
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Team News
Porto’s star man Oliveira, will miss the first leg due to an accumulation of yellow cards, while Marko Grujic could come back into the team to provide some defensive stability.
Mehdi Taremi is also suspended after his sending-off in Turin, so Luis Diaz could move into a central role, but Martinez will hope to come into Conceicao’s thinking after his crucial goal against Santa Clara.
Pepe will return to the starting lineup, while Malang Sarr may feature against his parent club, but he is doubtful for a start.
N’Golo Kante is out after suffering an injury while on international duty, meaning Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic could pair once again.
Christian Pulisic is also expected to miss out after he entered the treatment room at half time during the defeat to West Brom, and it remains unknown if Antonio Rudiger will be involved after a bust-up with Kepa during a training session.
Meanwhile, Andreas Christensen could hope for a recall to the starting line up if Rudiger is not called up.
Possible Lineup
Porto: Marchesin; Manafa, Pepe, Mbemba, Sanusi; Corona, Grujic, Uribe, Otavio; Marega, Martinez
Chelsea: Mendy; Azpilicueta, Zouma, Silva; Hudson-Odoi, Jorginho, Kovacic, Chilwell; Ziyech, Mount; Giroud
Porto vs Chelsea Head-2-Head
Chelsea have come out on top in their last eight Champions League meetings with Porto since 2004, and the most recent battle between the two clubs ended in a 2-0 home win for the Blues during the 2015-16 group stage.
- Porto wins: 2
- Draws: 1
- Chelsea wins: 5
Recent Form
Porto
Champions League: W W D W W L
All competitions: L W L W W W
League position: 2nd in the Primeira Liga
Chelsea
Champions League: W W W D W W
All competitions: W W D W W L
League position: 4th in the Premier League
Match Facts
Chelsea have kept a clean sheet in 6 of their last 8 matches (Champions League).
Chelsea have won6 of their last 7 matches (Champions League).
There have been under 2.5 goals scored in Chelsea’s last 3 games (Champions League).
Prediction
Porto command plenty of respect after dumping Juventus out of the tournament, but a fired-up Chelsea will be expected to bounce back immediately from their Premier League disappointment.
Porto often concede in the Champions League, and that spells disaster, though Chelsea has not been able to score more than 2goals a match since Thomas Tuchel take over so we predict a slender ‘away’ win for the Blues this week.
Final Verdict
Porto 1 – 2 Chelsea
