Overview
FC Porto is experiencing an impressive 2025-2026 season when they still have the opportunity to compete on three fronts.
Francesco Farioli's team currently leads Liga Portugal with a 5-point gap from the second-placed team, although Sporting still has one match to play. In addition, Porto has also reached the quarter-finals of UEFA Europa League and the semi-finals of Taca de Portugal.
Porto's most recent defeat was a 0-1 defeat to Sporting in the national cup semi-finals, but they quickly regained their form with a 4-match winning streak and 2 draws in the next 6 matches.
Returning to the Europa League, Porto has more reason to be confident when playing at home at Estadio do Dragao. They have only lost 1 home match this season (against Vitoria Guimaraes) and have won all 5 home matches in the European arena.
Overall, Porto has only lost 1 match in the Europa League this season (7 wins, 2 draws), although notably that defeat came against the upcoming opponent.
On the opposite side, Nottingham Forest once defeated Porto 2-0 in the group stage in October. However, that is just one of the few bright spots of this team in the season.
In fact, Forest's journey in the Europa League is much more impressive than their form in the Premier League. They surpassed Fenerbahce and Midtjylland to reach the quarterfinals, but are struggling in the relegation race when they are only ranked 16th, 3 points ahead of the relegation group.
The season of fluctuations with successive coaches such as Nuno Espirito Santo, Ange Postecoglou, Sean Dyche and currently Vitor Pereira also reflects the instability of this team.
However, the 3-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur before the international break has brought a great morale boost to Forest. Notably, they also showed not bad away form when they only lost 1 in the last 5 matches and also only lost 1 away match in the Europa League this season.
With stable form and home advantage, Porto is rated higher, but Nottingham Forest has every reason to hope to create a surprise in this confrontation.
Personnel situation
Porto will not have the services of Samu Aghehowa and Luuk de Jong due to injury, while the possibility of Rodrigo Mora and Nahuel Perez playing is still open.
In the context of the absence of two key strikers, Terem Moffi is likely to start in the center forward position. The two wings will be held by William Gomes and Borja Sainz.
On the other side, Nottingham Forest also faces many difficulties in terms of force when lacking a series of names such as Omari Hutchinson, Jair Cunha, Willy Boly, Nicolo Savona, John Victor, Chris Wood and Ola Aina.
Notably, key midfielder Elliot Anderson is also absent due to suspension. This makes the duo Nicolas Dominguez and Ibrahim Sangare likely to be trusted in midfield.
Expected lineup:
D. Costa, A. Costa, Bednarek, Kiwior, Sanusi, Froholdt, Varela, Fofana, Gomes, Moffi, Sainz.
Nottingham Forest: Sels, Williams, Milenkovic, Murillo, Netz, Sangare, Dominguez, Ndoye, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi, Jesus.
The match between Porto and Nottingham Forest takes place at 2:00 AM on April 10 (Vietnam time).
