Porto vs Arsenal

High-flying Arsenal head to the Estadio do Dragao to take on Porto in the first leg of their exciting Champions League last-16 tie.

Porto’s pursuit of their first Champions League quarter-final qualification hinges on a positive home result, considering they’ve never won a European fixture on English soil (D3, L18), including defeats on their last nine visits to the country. It makes the first leg at the Dragao ever so important, with manager Sergio Conceicao bidding to inspire Porto to a 13th win in their last 18 Champions League games on home turf (D1, L4). The ‘Dragons’ come into proceedings in high spirits courtesy of an impressive run of just one defeat in their ten previous games across all competitions (W7, D2), looking to build on a comfortable 2-0 home triumph against Primeira Liga rivals Estrela at the weekend. That victory stretched Porto’s formidable home streak to nine wins in their last ten matches (D1)!

In the meantime, Arsenal’s renaissance following a relatively sluggish start to the new calendar year continued at the weekend as they humbled Burnley 5-0 to stay within touching distance of Premier League pacesetters Liverpool. Mikel Arteta’s men have won their last five top-flight outings by an aggregate score of 21-2, setting themselves up nicely for their first Champions League last-16 appearance since 2016/17. The Gunners reigned supreme in this season’s group stages, securing a top-table finish in Group A (W4, D1, L1) despite only winning once on three road trips (D1, L1). However, the round of 16 has proved a fatal hurdle for Arsenal as they’ve not progressed beyond this stage in any of their last seven Champions League campaigns! In search of good omens, the last time they made it to the quarter-finals, they overcame Porto in the first knockout round.