take on the visitors Porto in the second leg of UEFA Europa League quarterfinals. First leg result: 1-1. The match will be played on Thursday, April 16th at City Ground (Nottingham).
Nottingham Forest understand that a return to European competitions is unlikely to come soon. “The Tricky Trees,” despite their historic achievements, only recently came back to the Premier League. Initially, they were focused on survival, but suddenly last season they managed to establish themselves among the league’s stronger sides. However, their recent form has been far less convincing, with the team struggling to maintain consistency over a long stretch. Results have been mixed, and they often fail to build on positive performances from one match to another. Even so, the management considered the final 7th place a disappointment, as they failed to hold onto a top-5 spot, despite earlier dreams of the UEFA Champions League. As a result, by autumn they parted ways with Nuno Espírito Santo. Since then, Ange Postecoglou had a very short spell, followed by Sean Dyche, who did somewhat better but was also gone by spring. Now Vítor Pereira is trying to save the team from relegation to the Championship. The Portuguese coach has already led them in the Europa League playoffs, where thanks to away wins they managed to get past Fenerbahçe and FC Midtjylland.
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Porto had spent several years behind their two eternal Lisbon rivals, but now, under Francesco Farioli, appointed in the summer, they have finally improved. Their current form in the league looks very solid, with consistent results allowing them to stay ahead in the title race. At the same time, they have shown good balance between attack and defense, which makes them difficult to break down. They have managed to overtake both SL Benfica and Sporting CP, confidently leading the Primeira Liga. However, they lost to “The Lions” in the cup, leaving them to focus domestically only on the main prize — the league title. In Europe, the Portuguese side have been consistently solid: they progressed through the main round without much trouble, recording 5 wins and 17 points (although their only defeat came in Nottingham), and then comfortably eliminated a strong VfB Stuttgart with two wins. Hosting the English side and scoring early, they then immediately helped the opponent with an incredible own goal.
The teams met for the first time in October at this same venue, where the hosts won 2–0. It is unlikely that the second match will be more entertaining than the first — backing under 2.5 total goals looks like the right choice here.
Prediction for the match: Under 2.5 scored goals.
