Comments and predictions for Porto vs Roma: The away team sings a song of triumph
The match between Porto vs Roma in the Europa League takes place at 0:45 on February 14. Nghe An Newspaper analyzes performance, makes football comments and predicts the score.
Latest Porto vs Roma team information
Since taking charge of FC Porto, coach Martin Anselmi has favoured a three-man defence and is likely to continue with this tactic against AS Roma (who also tend to play with three centre-backs). Goalkeeper Diogo Costa is a reliable stopper behind the hosts' 3-4-2-1.
FC Porto will be without Ivan Marcano, Marko Grujic and Martim Fernandes due to injury, while Nico Gonzalez (who scored the winner in the final group game) has joined Manchester City.
Despite failing to score in the last 6 matches, striker Samu Aghehowa is still the number 1 hope in FC Porto's attack (he has scored 5 goals in the Europa League this season). Young star Rodrigo Mora can also be trusted to support Aghehowa.
In defence, Brazilian centre-back Otavio returns from suspension and could usurp Ze Pedro's starting spot. Defender Danny Namaso will need to be careful in the next game, as another yellow card will see him suspended for the return leg.
On the other side of the front line, two AS Roma players, Mats Hummels and Alexis Saelemaekers, are also facing a similar risk. Coach Ranieri rested Saelemaekers and Leandro Paredes for the match at the weekend. However, both will return to the starting lineup in the next match (alongside Manu Kone, who has just finished his suspension after the match against Venezia).
New signings Devyne Rensch and Victor Nelsson could both feature in the match, although Lucas Gourna-Douath and Anass Salah-Eddine are not included in the visitors' UEFA squad.
Latest expected lineup Porto vs Roma
Porto:
Costa; Djalo, Perez, Otavio; Mario, Eustaquio, Varela, Moura; Pepe, Mora; Aghehowa
Roma:
Svilar; Mancini, Hummels, Ndicka; Saelemaekers, Kone, Paredes, Angelino; Dybala, Pisilli; Dovbyk
Latest football commentary Porto vs Roma
Having narrowly avoided an early exit, Porto have just qualified for the play-offs, finishing among the top 16 teams in the Europa League group stage.
A narrow 1-0 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv in the final match saw Porto through, as a draw would have seen them eliminated by Braga.
New coach Martin Anselmi (from Mexican club Cruz Azul) had a successful debut, helping Porto recover from a painful defeat to Olympiacos a week earlier.
They were then held to a 2-2 draw by Rio Ave in the Primeira Liga, before facing rivals Sporting Lisbon last weekend. Danny Namaso's dramatic 94th-minute equaliser secured a point for Porto and denied Sporting a first win at the Dragao for nine years.
Nevertheless, Porto have endured a forgettable run of domestic fixtures. They are third, a long way off the top spot, and have been eliminated from both domestic cup competitions. This is also the first time in the 21st century that the team has failed to win five consecutive league games.
The Dragons are determined to go far in the Europa League (despite their disappointing record of winning just five of their last 25 knockout matches in UEFA competitions, losing 16). However, four of those five wins have come at home.
In terms of head-to-head record, FC Porto has the psychological advantage. They have eliminated AS Roma in all three previous encounters in European tournaments. In the years: 1981/82, 2016/17, and 2018/19.
In the most recent encounter (2018/19 season), FC Porto won 4-3 after extra time. But AS Roma is currently no pushover as their performance in European cups is extremely impressive (AS Roma won the Conference League 2022, reached the final of the Europa League 2023 and reached the semi-finals last season). Therefore, the Italian representative can completely break the curse.
In the group stage of this year's Europa League, AS Roma excelled in winning a higher position than FC Porto. After difficulties in the group stage, a convincing victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in the final match helped Mourinho's team enter the "play-off" group - which opened up the opportunity to clash with rivals Lazio in the round of 16.
Like FC Porto, AS Roma are also in poor form domestically. After Sunday's 1-0 win over Venezia, Roma are ninth in Serie A and have been eliminated from the Coppa Italia.
Before traveling to Portugal, AS Roma had only won 3 of their last 19 away games in the Europa League. This number is not a positive statistic before the difficult away trip to FC Porto.
Latest Porto vs Roma score prediction
Based on the above football comments, we and the world's leading football sites have given the results of the match.Porto vs Romaas follows:
- Sportsmole:Porto 1-2 Roma
- WhoScore:Porto 1-1 Roma
- Our newspaper predicts:Porto 1-2 Roma
When and where to watch Porto vs Roma live?
To watch the live match Porto vs Roma in the Europa League taking place at 0:45 on February 14, viewers can watch onK+ Sport,K+PMor online sports channels. Wish you have fun watching football.