Lazio vs Porto

Lazio and Porto are set to trade tackles in a tasty-looking UEFA Europa League fixture at the Stadio Olimpico.

Lazio couldn’t have imagined a better way to kick off this Europa League campaign as they’ve won all three matches in the tournament via multi-goal margins, including a 2-0 triumph at Twente last time out. Like in their two previous European outings, Marco Baroni’s side opened the scoring and led at halftime, suggesting a quick-fire start could be on the cards. Adding to this sentiment, ‘I Biancocelesti’ scored within the first five minutes of their 2-1 Serie A home win against Cagliari earlier this week, extending their winning streak in all competitions to four games. Stadio Olimpico has been Lazio’s safe haven this term, with the Italians winning six of their seven competitive home outings (D1), including the last five on the trot!

On the other hand, Porto overcame a dismal two-game winless Europa League start (D1, L1), featuring a 3-3 home draw against Manchester United, with a 2-0 victory at TSG Hoffenheim last time out. That win forms part of the visitors’ six-game winning run in all competitions, bookended by a 4-0 thrashing of Estoril at the weekend. With their last five triumphs yielding a clean sheet, the Portuguese giants ought to be confident as they bid to defy an embarrassing record of just one win from their last 12 away encounters against Italian clubs (D4, L7). Buoyed by back-to-back away wins by 3+ goals ‘to nil,’ they’ll look to triumph at the Olimpico, just as they did against Roma in October 2016.