Porto is going to face Chelsea in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuánin Sevilla on Wednesday. Porto is the underdog in this fixture. They have surprised everyone with their performances after they knocked out Juventus in the round of sixteen. Meanwhile, Chelsea outclassed a very tough Atletico Madrid side.
Under Thomas Tuchel, Chelsea has improved in the last few weeks. However, they come into the game against Porto after suffering a shock defeat against West Brom in the Premier League. The defeat had consequences as Chelsea are currently out of the top four. On the other hand, Porto is second in the Portuguese league, eight points behind Sporting Lisbon.
Team News
Chelsea will have Christian Pulisic and N’Golo Kante fit for this game. Both of them have recovered from hamstring injuries. Kante is unlikely to start after his latest muscle complaint. Tammy Abraham will also be in the squad.
Porto will take on Chelsea without their suspended two top goalscorers, Sergio Oliveira and Mehdi Taremi.
Predicted Starting Lineups
Porto: Marchesín; Manafá, Mbemba, Pepe, Zaidu; Grujić, Uribe, Otávio, Corona; Luis Diáz, Marega
Chelsea: Mendy; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Rüdiger; James, Jorginho, Kovačić, Alonso; Mount, Giroud, Werner
What did coaches say?
Sérgio Conceição, Porto coach: “We are aware that we are going to have a very difficult task, but we are ready. There may be one or two different variations in our system for the match. In life, nothing is impossible, especially in football. I wish Chelsea had won their last match. Sometimes these situations sound the alarm and make everyone more alert.”
Thomas Tuchel, Chelsea coach: “We come from a competition that we can lose against the team 19th in the table, 5-2. So we know how humble you have to be in every game. I have the feeling we can overcome Porto but it will be a tough match. They are a very experienced side in this competition, champions for many years in Portugal. This makes a certain mentality. But we are strong enough and believe in ourselves that we can overcome this round.”
Score Prediction
Porto 1-2 Chelsea
Porto showed great resilience against Juventus, but the quality of Chelsea across all positions on the pitch will be too much for them to overcome in the first leg of the quarter-finals of the Champions League.