Portuguese giants FC Porto have an uphill struggle to face on Wednesday when they host Liverpool at Estadio do Dragao for the second leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-finals tie. The Reds won the first leg 2-0 last week with first-half goals from Naby Keita and Roberto Firmino. That was the fourth victory for Liverpool in the last seven European matches against FC Porto. The two teams have also met in this competition last season, that time it was in the round of sixteen, and Liverpool sorted out the qualification from the first leg with an impressive 5-0 victory in Portugal.
FC Porto won't be too optimistic ahead of Wednesday's match but they can gain some confidence from what happened in the previous round, when they fought back after a 2-1 first-leg defeat to knock out AS Roma with an extra-time goal from Alex Telles. After last week's 2-0 defeat at Anfield, FC Porto recovered with a 3-0 victory at Portimonense in the Portuguese league, where they remain tied with Benfica at the top of the table. Pepe and Hector Herrera are available again after having missed out the first leg through suspension, but Vincent Aboubakar remains injured.
Liverpool have a solid advantage to defend in the second leg and they will surely be determined not to let it slip away. Moreover, the Reds are in very good form as they have won their last seven matches in all competitions and are undefeated since January 7, that's sixteen competitive matches ago. On Sunday they managed to keep the pace up in the race for the Premier League title with a 2-0 home victory over Chelsea, with goals from Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah. Andrew Robertson returns from suspension and will be available for Wednesday's match, while Jordan Henderson is an injury doubt after having picked up a knock in last weekend's league match.
Probable line-ups:
FC Porto: Casillas - Militao, Pepe, Felipe, Telles - Otavio, Pereira, Herrera, Corona - Marega, Soares
Liverpool: Alisson - Alexander-Arnold, Lovren, Van Dijk, Robertson - Henderson, Fabinho, Keita - Salah, Firmino, Mane
My prediction: Liverpool to win 3-1, the Reds are strong and FC Porto will probably leave spaces at the back in their quest for goals.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
FC Porto win - 3.80
Draw - 3.50
Liverpool win - 2.10
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