Roma vs Porto Prediction & Betting Tips

February 5, 2019

Posted by Tesla

Photo by DoubleJack92 / CC BY-SA 4.0

Roma hosts Porto for a Champions League 8th Finals, Leg 1of 2 clash on Tuesday, 12 February at Stadio Olimpico in Rome. Primeira Liga leader Porto is a nearly unstoppable force, while Roma gets the home turf benefit. The teams have met four previous times in European competition, with Porto winning each time. Can Roma pull out the ultimate upset? Find out with our Roma vs Porto prediction and betting tips!

Roma

Roma currently sits fifth in the Serie A table, sandwiched between Milan and Sampdoria in domestic play.

Roma squeaked into the Champions League finals with a second-place finish on the Group G table with a record of 3-0-3. It’s difficult to look at the results of Group G and not feel a bit ho-hum. This wasn’t the best faring collective of the Champions League, Roma comes in with 9 points, tied with Liverpool in Group C for the second-fewest points of a two-slot finisher. Roma also dropped their Matchday 6 bout to Plzeň 2-1.

The good news is that Roma is on an uptick of late. Coach Eusebio Di Francesco and his footies rounded out 2018 with December victories over Genoa, Sassuolo, and Parma—there was a defeat at the hands of Juventus in the mix, but that’s almost a given.

So far in 2019, Roma bested Virtus Entella in the Coppa Italia – 8th Finals and Torino. The most recent match was a 3-3 shootout draw with Atalanta.

There’s also exciting talk around the Roma camp about a roster upgrade. The squad has not been silent in their quest to obtain acclaimed midfielder Wilmar Barrios, the subject of Netflix’s Boca Juniors Confidential series, from Boca Juniors of Argentina. The deal appears to center around a six-month loan with an option to buy out Barrios next summer. If a transaction materializes quickly and Barrios lands with Roma, he will solidly bolster Daniele De Rossi (when he returns from injury) and Steven Nzonzi.

Photo by UEFA Champions League / CC0 1.0

Porto

The most decorated Portuguese team pulls into the Champions League 8th finals at the top of the Group D table with a 5-1-0 record and 16 points. That’s the best Champions League record overall and a testament to the club’s strength. Porto is simply tough to beat, which makes the Dragons a sound pick to cluster with other bets if you follow footy accumulator tips and news for the Champions League.

It should come as no surprise that Porto (15-1-2, 46 points) also stands atop its native Primeira Liga table with a two-point edge over second place dwelling Benefica.

Conducting Porto’s success train are midfielder captain Hector Herrera, forward Moussa Marega, and winger Jesus Corona.

A strong passer and tackler, Herrera possesses strength on both the offensive and defensive sides of the balls. He’s also a proven Champions League asset with two goals and an assist through group stage play.

Marega is Porto’s go-to finisher. The Mali international has racked up 11 goals in all competitions, with five of those scores coming in the 2018-19 Champions League campaign. Roma must find ways to contain him in order to dampen Porto’s overall threat.

Corona isn’t a prolific goal-scorer, but he’s a consummate set-up man as a passer and deft ball dribbler. He also has a knack for pulling out the stops in big game moments. The Roma faithful may recall it was Corona who hammered the final goal the last time the sides met in a 2016 Champions League group stage qualifier.

Team News

Roma absentees:

Rick Karsdorp (doubtful)
Lorenzo Pellegrini (injury)
Daniele De Rossi (injury)
Ante Ćorić (doubtful)

Porto absentees:

Vincent Aboubakar (injury)

Possible Lineups

Roma

Olsen – Florenzi, Fazio, Manolas, Kolarov – Nzonzi, Cristante – Zaniolo, Pastore, El Shaarawy – Dzeko

Porto

Alves – Felipe, Pepe, Telles, Militão – Herrera, Torres, Corona, Brahimi – Marega, Pereira