Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the Champions League match.
Barcelona
Barelona have been losing points a lot recently. They were defeated by Real Madrid (1:2). A draw versus Rayo Vallecano has brought the Catalan side to the fourth position. This decline is reflected in the Champions League too. Barcelona were beaten by Shakhtar Donetsk (0:1). The decline in goals scored is what draws the most attention, they've scored only 1,2 goals in the last 10 games in all tournaments.
Porto
Porto, on the other hand, perform perfectly well. They have beaten Antwerp in the Champions League (2:0), Montalegre (4:0) in the Portuguese Cup, and Vitória Guimarães in their domestic league. The attacking players of Barcelona, who are obviously exhausted, will hardly be able to pass through the solid defence of the Portuguese side. They allow their opponents to create around 0,89 xG per game on average.
Barcelona - Porto prediction
Barcelona are the most effective team among the top 5 European leagues in performing in the last 15 minutes of a game. They have 15 points thanks to the goals scored in this period, which is the best result. The opponents can wait for decisive actions to be taken in the last minutes in the upcoming game too as the risk is too high. They’re unlikely to risk right from the start.
I think that the second half will be more interesting than the first one.
