Champions League: Porto’s Challenge Moves to the Emirates

Arsenal vs Porto

Arsenal aim to turn over a first-leg deficit on Tuesday when Porto arrive at the Emirates for their second Champions League knockout date.

A late goal from Wenderson Galeno gave the Portuguese side a first-leg advantage, and that tees up this second tie perfectly. Mikel Arteta’s title chasers have been firing on all cylinders in recent weeks, and the North London stadium will be bouncing when the Portuguese invaders arrive.

Arsenal are gunning for glory in the Premier League, and they come into the game on the back of a 2-1 win at home to Brentford, which took them to the top of the table on Saturday. Meanwhile, Porto picked up a comfortable three points away to Portimonense.

Porto boss Sergio Conceicao masterminded the first-leg victory quite brilliantly, and he’ll have his ideas ready for his team to deliver another shock.

This is the Champions League at its best. 

Talking Points

Arsenal beginning to look like the finished article

At a price of 7.00, the Gunners are third favourites to win the European title, and the latest Champions League 2024 betting odds make them a likely finalist at odds of 3.50. And their recent domestic form has seen the Premier League betting odds swing rapidly in Arsenal’s favour.

Arteta has been at the club since 2019, and he has steadily improved the Gunners, and, for the first time since Arsene Wenger left the club, Arsenal are looking like a complete team. 20 years have passed since they last won the English League, and the one thing the Invicibles team had that recent Arsenal teams have lacked is…steel.

That problem seems to have been solved. Arsenal’s match against the Bees was a lively affair that threatened to boil over at times, and centre-back Gabriel was often in the midst of the melees. Alongside William Saliba, the Brazilian has formed a superb defensive pairing, tough in the tackle and comfortable on the ball. 

In front of the back four, Declan Rice has provided strong protection, and he has become more influential as the campaign has gone on. Rice scored the opener against Brentford, and his new role in a more advanced position is making him yet another attacking threat for the Gunners, alongside an array of creative talent led by skipper Martin Odegaard. 

Up front, Kai Havertz is in the best form of his career in England, and his winner against Brentford, a thundering header, was his fourth goal in four games. Havertz is starting to look like a leader in attack, and that is something Arsenal have lacked.

If they can avoid injuries to key players, this could be a special season for Arteta’s Gunners. 

Porto’s perfect preparation 

The visitors will be under no illusions around the size of the task they face, but Porto’s preparation could hardly have gone better, and they will arrive at the Emirates brimming with confidence.

Last week, they hammered title rivals Benfica 5-0, and they followed that up with a near-perfect display against Portimonense. Nico Gonzalez gave the Dragons an early lead before Wenderson Galeno and Pepe made the points safe, and, having humbled Benfica last week, this win lifted Conceicao’s team to within three points of the top two in the Portuguese Primera Division. 

Porto’s first-leg win over the Gunners was one of the most eye-catching Champions League 2024 results of the knockout phase so far, and if the visitors pull off another shock, they will be able to write their own headlines.

They certainly have a goal threat; the Brazil pairing of Galeno and Evanilson have six and five goals, respectively, and, with three assists also to his name, the red-hot Galeno is having a superb Europa campaign. 

History

Porto have a rich history in the Champions League, twice winning the European crown in 1987 and then lead by Jose Mourinho in 2004. The closest the Gunners came to winning was in the 2006 final, when they were beaten by Barcelona. 

Arsenal have edged the head-to-heads so far with four wins to three, while recent form is strong for both teams, with the Gunners winning five from the last six and Porto winning four.

Betting Tip

Arsenal are at SBOTOP odds of 1.22 to win this match and, in all probability, make it through to the quarterfinals. At 5.22 to draw, and with the Portuguese side out at 8.87 to do the double, it does look like it should be Arsenal’s night.   

But the first-leg win for Porto will give the visitors confidence, particularly as they kept a clean sheet against a side which has scored 17 goals in their last three Premier League games on the road. This could be a fascinating 100 minutes of European football.  

 

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