Porto vs Lyon Match Analysis and Prediction

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The Europa League returns to action on Wednesday night where Porto will play host to Lyon at the Estadio de Dragao for the first leg of their last-16 tie.

The hosts enter the contest off the back of a 4-2 Primeira Liga victory against Pacos de Ferreira on Sunday, while Lyon also won 4-1 against Ligue 1 side Lorient on Friday.

While the Dragons have been a dominant force domestically this season, Sergio Conceicao’s side failed to advance from their Champions League group and subsequently dropped down into the Europa League playoffs.

Porto were then faced with a challenging tie against Serie A outfit Lazio last month, but they managed to emerge with a 4-3 victory on aggregrate.

Since their elimination from the Champions League group stage was confirmed on December 7, Conceicao’s side have put together an impressive 18-game unbeaten run across all competitions, including 15 wins and at least two or more goals scored on 14 occasions.

Porto now face Lyon having won the first leg of five of their seven Europa League matches in the knockout stages at home, with their only defeat in this run against Manchester City back in 2011-12.

Their opponents Lyon have endured an underwhelming domestic campaign, currently sitting ninth in Ligue 1 and 19 points behind league leaders Paris Saint-Germain.

However, their efforts in the Europa League have been the highlight of their campign so thus far, having finished top of Group A ahead of Rangers, Sparta Prague and Brondby, with five victories and a draw from their six matches-no team accumulated more points or goals than them in the group stage.

Les Gones now prepare for a challenging two-legged contest against a Porto side, who they have failed to defeat in any of their previous four meetings, including defeats in both of their away matches.

Porto vs Lyon head to head

The two sides have previously met on six occasions in the Champions League and Club Friendlies, where Porto are leading with 3 victories while Lyon have won once, and they have drawn in 2. They ended up in a 2-2 draw in their last competitive match in the Champions League.

Lyon 2-2 Porto 07/04/04

Lyon 0-2 Porto 27/07/09

Porto 1-2 Lyon 31/07/11

Porto 0-0 Lyon 04/08/12

Porto 5-3 Lyon 31/07/21

Porto latest home form

Porto have been on a good run of form at home so far this season, and they have been unbeaten in each of their nine most recent matches. They recently defeated Lazio 2-1 in the Europa Ligue. In their last five matches, they have scored 10 goals and conceded 6.

Porto 3-1 Famalicao 23/01/22

Porto 2-1 Maritimo 30/02/22

Porto 2-2 Sporting Lisbon 11/02/22

Porto 2-1 Lazio 17/02/22

Porto 1-1 Gil Vicente 27/02/22

Porto latest away form

Porto have been on an impressive run of form on the road, and they have been unbeaten in their 10 most recent away matches. They recently defeated Sporting Lisbon 2-1 in the Taca de Portugal. In their last five away matches, they have scored 11 goals and conceded just 5.

Arouca 0-2 Porto 06/02/22

Moreirense 0-1 Porto 20/02/22

Lazio 2-2 Porto 24/02/22

Sporting Lisbon 1-2 Porto 02/03/22

Pacos Ferreira 2-4 Porto 06/03/22

Lyon latest home form

Lyon lost their last league home game 1-2 to Lille on February 27. Howevrer, they have recently been on a good run of form at home, having been unbeaten in their previous six matches. In their last five matches, they have won three and drawn two, scoring 6 goals and conceding 3.

Lyon 1-1 PSG 09/01/22

Lyon 1-0 Saint-Etienne 21/01/22

Lyon 2-1 Marseille 01/02/22

Lyon 2-0 Nice 12/02/22

Lyon 0-1 Lille 27/02/22

Lyon latest away form

Lyon have recently been on a good run of form on the road, having lost just one of their eight most recent away matches. That defeat came on February 5 when they lost 2-0 to Monaco. In their last five matches, they have won two, drawn two and lost one.

Lille 0-0 Lyon 12/12/21

Troyes 0-1 Lyon 16/01/22

Monaco 2-0 Lyon 05/02/22

Lens 1-1 Lyon 19/02/22

Lorient 1-4 Lyon 04/03/22

Porto news

Porto’s only injury concern is with right-back Wilson Manafa, who continues to recover from a knee injury, while left-back Wendell, who was sent off in their final Champons League group match, will serve the third and final game of his suspension. However Joao Mario is set to continue at right-back.

Lyon news

Sinaly Diomande and Rayan Cherki are both sidelined with foot and ankle injuries respectivley, while Jason Deneyer, Tanguy Ndombele and Leo Dubois are doubtful.

Jerome Boateng and midfielder Jeff Reine-Adelaide both returned from injury against Lorient last time out, and will now be in contention to start in the Wednesday’s clash.

Prediction and Odds

Lyon have had two extra days in preparation for this contest, but we expect a closely-fought match to be played out between two of the favourites to go all the way this season.

Both sides come into the game with goal-scoring capability, but with a little to separate them we expect a draw.

Odds: 1 2.20 X 2.05 2 2.35