- Porto are unbeaten in their last four matches in all competitions, topping the Portuguese league comfortably and progressing past Stuttgart in the last-16 of the Europa League.
- Nottingham Forest are 16th in the Premier League, fighting against the drop, but have been resilient in Europe, beating Midtjylland on penalties in the previous round and recording a 3-0 away win at Spurs in the Europa League.
- Porto and Forest have played one previous competitive match, a Europa League group game in October 2025, which Forest won 2-0, thanks to goals from Gibbs-White and Igor Jesus.
Porto and Forest set for a tactical duel at Estádio do Dragão
FC Porto host Nottingham Forest in the quarter-final first leg of the UEFA Europa League 2025-2026 on Thursday in the second-ever meeting of two of Europe’s former kings in the competition. The bookies see Porto as a slight favourite for this match at 2.0, but with Forest coming in at 3.65 and the draw at 3.35, this is very much a game of two halves and the tie is finely poised going into the second leg.
Francesco Farioli has been praised for his modern approach to the game, being possession-based but also highly pressing when out of it. Porto build up in a structured way from the back, with their inverted full-backs providing width and balance, but their ability to press in numbers also allows them to transition quickly. This, combined with their squad depth, has seen them maintain their domestic dominance this season, topping the table in the Portuguese league and winning their last-16 Europa League tie with Stuttgart.
Vítor Pereira is a pragmatic coach with a long and successful history at Porto, although he is facing his former club for the first time since 2013. Forest have been less impressive domestically, but have also shown their European resilience, including a penalty shootout win at Midtjylland in the Europa League last-16 and following up with a morale-boosting 3-0 away win at Tottenham.
A game of control and counter
There is an interesting contrast in styles between these two teams and this match could be a chess match for control of the game, with Porto wanting to dominate the ball and Forest looking to sit deep and play on the break. Forest’s captain Ryan Yates provides a target and a threat from set pieces, while Morgan Gibbs-White is the creative spark behind their goals, as he showed when he scored the penalty in Forest’s previous win over Porto.
Igor Jesus is the joint-top scorer in the Europa League for Forest this season, with seven goals, and will be their most likely goal-scorer in Europe on Thursday. Porto will be looking to Terem Moffi and Rodrigo Mora, who have both been decisive in their Europa League knockout games so far, while Diogo Costa will keep the hosts in the match with a reliable display at the other end.
Porto are unbeaten in their last four in all competitions, including a 3-0 win over Moreirense and a 2-2 draw with Benfica, demonstrating their attacking threat and ability to turn the screw in big games. They will be expecting to edge the first leg at home, but Forest’s resilience in Europe, particularly their threat from set-pieces, should keep the tie very open going into the return leg. Back ‘Both teams to score - No’ at 1.91 for this high-intensity, tactically nuanced clash at the Estádio do Dragão.
