Form And Squad Of Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest have stabilised their results under Pereira after two coaching changes. The team have lost the defensive instability they had before, and they are now unbeaten in five matches in a row. In the last Premier League round against Aston Villa (1:1), the hosts allowed only 1.02 xGA against a top-four opponent, and the visitors’ only goal came from a Murillo own goal. Wood has lost his place to Jesus since returning from injury and has not scored for the first team since August. Due to injuries Victor, Savona and Cunha, all of whom have knee problems, will not play for Nottingham Forest.
Important Nottingham Forest stats:
- Forest have not conceded more than one goal in six consecutive matches. Tottenham (3:0) and Fulham (0:0) failed to score at all.
- In their last 10 home matches, Nottingham Forest have played under 2.5 goals eight times.
- In 16 Premier League games involving Nottingham Forest at the City Ground, an average of 2.1 goals have been scored — the lowest figure for goals in the league.
- Forest have the third-worst conversion rate in Premier League home matches. Pereira’s team have scored almost 10 goals (9.23) fewer than expected according to xG.
Potential Nottingham Forest lineup (3-4-2-1):
Stefan Ortega — Morato, Murillo, Zak Abbott — Dan Ndoye, Nicolas Dominguez, Ryan Yates, Dylan Bakwa — James McAtee, Morgan Gibbs-White — Chris Wood.
Form And Squad Of Porto
After the match against Forest at the Dragao, Porto had a difficult away game against Estoril (3:1), who are in the top seven in the Primeira Liga. Farioli’s side allowed only 0.39 xGA, conceding the only goal right at the end when they already had a comfortable lead. At the same time the visitors have obvious problems in attack: leading forwards De Jong and Aghehowa are out injured, and now Gul often starts despite having scored only once since the end of November.
Important Porto stats:
- In this Europa League campaign Porto have conceded only nine goals in 11 matches.
- All four of Porto’s away matches in the main Europa League phase have finished under 2.5 goals.
- The visitors have the most consistent defence in the Primeira Liga (14 goals conceded). At the same time they have scored 14 goals fewer than Sporting, who are second in the table.
Potential Porto lineup (4-3-3):
Diogo Costa — Martim Fernandes, Tiago Silva, Jan Bednarek, Zaidu — Pablo Rosario, Seko Fofana, Gabriel Veiga — William Gomes, Terem Moffi, Borja Sainz.
