Porto vs Chelsea prediction: How will Champions League fixture play out tonight?
Chelsea go head-to-head with Porto this evening as the teams’ Champions League quarter-final tie gets under way.
Both legs of the last-eight meeting will be held in Seville due to coronavirus-related travel restrictions, with this first leg serving as a ‘home’ fixture for Portuguese champions Porto.
FOLLOW LIVE: Teams and all the action as the Blues face Porto
A semi-final against either Real Madrid or Liverpool awaits the winners of this tie, with Chelsea the favourites due to their fine start to life under Thomas Tuchel. The German led his team on a 14-match unbeaten run, starting from his first game in charge at the end of January, though that streak was halted in dramatic fashion at the weekend as the Blues suffered a shocking 5-2 Premier League defeat by 19th-placed West Brom at Stamford Bridge.
Porto, meanwhile, are on a three-match winning run since their 3-2 second-leg loss to Juventus in the Champions League last 16 – an extra-time result that ensured Sergio Conceicao’s side safe passage to the final eight on account of their 2-1 first-leg victory. Chelsea, meanwhile, were 3-0 aggregate winners against Atletico Madrid in the last round.
Here’s everything you need to know about tonight’s game.
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When is it?
The match will kick off at 8pm GMT this evening.
How can I watch it?
The fixture will air live on BT Sport, with subscribers also able to watch it live on the broadcaster’s website and app.
Confirmed line-ups
Porto: Marchesin; Manafa, Pepe, Mbemba, Zaidu; Grujic, Uribe, Otavio, Tecatito; Luis Diaz, Marega
Chelsea: Mendy; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Rudiger; James, Jorginho, Kovacic, Chilwell; Mount, Havertz, Werner
Odds
Porto: 4/1
Draw: 5/2
Chelsea: 3/4
Prediction
Porto were seen as the most favourable opponents for the other seven teams when the quarter-final draw was made, but they are no pushovers – as they demonstrated by eliminating Italian champions Juventus in the last round. That fact, coupled with Chelsea’s poor result against West Brom at the weekend, will give Blues fans cause for concern. But Chelsea still have the greater quality and depth, and that should at least be enough to secure a vital away goal and draw here, if not a win. Porto 1-1 Chelsea.