- FC Porto and Nottingham Forest will meet in the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals for the second time in history
- FC Porto are unbeaten in their last four matches in all competitions
- Nottingham Forest’s only previous competitive clash with Porto resulted in a 2-0 win in the Europa League group stage in October 2025
Porto should have the edge in quarter-final clash
FC Porto host Nottingham Forest in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League 2025-2026 quarter-final on Thursday with both former European champions aiming to make a step closer to the final.
Porto are the slight favourites to progress, listed at 1/1 with Forest at 53/20 and the draw at 47/20 with the Dragons having home advantage. However, there should be no complacency for the hosts as Forest are very resilient European battlers and beat Porto 2-0 when they met in the group stages of this season’s competition.
Goals from Morgan Gibbs-White and Igor Jesus put the Premier League club in charge of that clash and it will be up to the pair to get into the penalty area and create the danger again in Portugal.
Forest’s forwards look for another Porto goal
Terem Moffi and Rodrigo Mora have been decisive for Porto in their European knockout clashes, but Forest’s Igor Jesus is a better goal threat right now, being their joint-top scorer in the Europa League with seven goals. He is Forest’s key to unlocking this game.
Vítor Pereira’s side will sit deep, be disciplined and look to catch Porto on counter-attacks or from set pieces when they have their players in place for those. The Forest boss has plenty of tools in the shed to adapt to the circumstances and his team has performed brilliantly on their European adventure so far.
Forest are 16th in the Premier League and fighting to avoid relegation, but they came from behind in the Europa League last-16 to win on penalties at Midtjylland. Then they beat Spurs 3-0 away.
Porto’s positional play puts pressure on Forest
Francesco Farioli has come in for some praise this season for the way he has been playing a modern, possession-based and pressing game with a well-balanced Porto. The players have bought into it and the league leaders top the Primeira Liga with a comfortable points cushion.
Their 3-0 win over Moreirense last weekend and the 2-2 with the Eagles at the Dragão a few weeks before that show they can both create chances and win big when they need to. The wide defenders, Zaidu in particular, are very good when they get forward and veteran Pepe offers a senior presence.
Porto will win the first-leg on home soil in a game where they can get the upper hand and take a big advantage into the return leg in England, but Forest will not make it easy. Both teams to score - No is a good punt here at 91/100 as this will be a tense and tactically complex game with control being the most important factor for both teams.
