FC Porto will begin their journey in the UEFA Europa League this season when they welcome Italian side Lazio to
Venue: Estádio do Dragão (Porto
Key Statistics
FC Porto have failed to win the opening leg in nine of their last 11 UEFA Europa League knockout ties (D4, L5).
The hosts are unbeaten in their last 12 home games (W11, D1).
They have scored 2+ goals in each of their last ten games in all competitions.
Lazio have never drawn a UEFA away game against Portuguese opponents (W2, L4).
The visitors have an 18% win rate in UEL knockout away games.
Head to head
Porto and Lazio have met two times in the past and the hosts have the upper hand with one win and one draw.
Latest performances in all competitions
Porto: D-W-W-W-W
Lazio: W-L-W-D-W
Porto
FC Porto play host to SC Lazio at the Estadio de Dragao Portugal on February 17th in the first knockout round playoff.
The Portuguese heavyweights have gone 12 matches without tasting defeat and head into this encounter off the back of a hard-fought 2-2 draw with second-placed Sporting CP in the Portuguese Primera Division. They had to come from two goals behind on the game to make sure Sporting didn’t go home with maximum points.
With the way Sergio Conceicao’s men are playing, this tie promises to be a wonderful encounter for football lovers all over the world.
This fixture does not occur regularly in the football calendar, as the last time both teams faced each other came back in 2003 in this same competition. Porto ran out winners in that tie with a 4-1 aggregate in their favour.
Having dropped to the Europa League as a result of finishing third in their Champions League group stage, the Portuguese giants will be keen to make a statement in the Europa League to stake a claim in the circle of football’s elites albeit in the second tier of European club football.
Possible Porto starting line-up
Agustin Marchesin; Bruno Costa, Chancel Mbemba, Pepe, Zaidu Sanusi; Francisco Conceicao, Stephen Eustaquio, Mateus Uribe, Pepe; Mehdi Taremi, Fabio Vieira.
Injured: Wilson Manafá
Doubtful: None
Suspended: Wendell
Lazio
After suffering a humbling defeat at the hands of AC Milan which sent them out of the Coppa Italia, Lazio returned to winning ways over the weekend with a win against Bologna.
‘I Biancocelesti’ have not had the best of seasons at the domestic level and have mercurial hitman Ciro Immobile to thank for having saved them time and again all through the season.,
With 19 goals in the Serie A and another three in the Europa league, Immobile will definitely be a man to watch out for in this tie as Maurizio Sarri’s wards aim to salvage their season and prove their detractors wrong for a change.
For a team whose last silverware came back in the 2019/2020 season, this competition presents a perfect and only realistic way to add another trophy to their trophy cabinet, having already lost so much ground on the domestic front.
Possible Lazio starting line-up
Thomas Strakosha; Elseid Hysaj, Patric, Luis Felipe, Adam Marusic; Danilo Cataldi, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Luis Alberto; Ciro Immobile, Mattia Zaccagni, Pedro.
Injured: Manuel Lazzari, Francesco Acerbi, Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Prediction
Porto 2-1 Lazio
