Sevilla are in very poor form at the moment, with weekend’s defeat in Santander serving as another blow to the players’ confidence, so los Rojiblancos are likely to find it tough against high-flying Porto. The Dragons have been in very good form this season and they definitely have what it takes to get something from this match.

Big problems for Sevilla

Despite boasting one of the strongest squads in La Liga apart from Barcelona and Real Madrid, Sevilla have been largely struggling to meet their potential this season. After being eliminated from the Champions League qualifying stages by Braga, los Rojiblancos had certain problems in Europa League as well but somehow managed to make it to the knockout stages. The game against high-flying Porto comes at a bad time for Gregorio Manzano’s side seeing they failed to win any of their last five games, while losing to 10-man Racing Santander at the weekend. The atmosphere in the team are far from perfect, as witnessed by Luis Fabiano’s requests to leave the club, which only make things worse before the match with very good Porto side.

Fredi Kanoute should be fit to play after missing the Racing game through a hamstring injury, but Dabo and Cigarini are likely to miss out.

The Dragons fly high

After missing out on the league title for the first time after quite a while last season, Porto are determined to restore their domestic domination and they seem to have already clinched the Liga Sagres title, having won 18 and drawn 2 league games, conceding just 7 goals in the process. The impressive results on domestic stage will allow Andre Villas-Boas’ side to fully focus on their European campaign, so there is no doubt the Dragons will give their best against Sevilla. Having already beaten sides like Genk, CSKA Sofia, Besiktas and Rapid Wien on the road this season, Porto have every reason to feel optimistic before the Sevilla game. With very strong midfield area and impressive attacking trio of Hulk, Falcao and Varela, the Dragons look like favourites in this clash.

Falcao, Cristian Rodriguez and Alvaro Pereira return to the side, but Maicon and Mariano Gonzalez didn’t make the trip.

Verdict

Sevilla are going through a very rough patch at the moment as they are winless in last five games, whereas Porto are in very good form and they definitely look much better than their opponents at the moment. Therefore, I see a good value in backing Porto to win with +0.25 Asian handicap.

Our prediction: Porto to win with +0.25 Asian handicap

Odds: 1.80 (4/5)

Bookmaker: Bet365