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Porto is riding a 1-0 advantage coming into this second leg of their Europa League quarterfinal against Sevilla. Both teams are in fine form, so this should make for an interesting encounter.
Sevilla has really stepped up its game lately, especially at home, where they won 5 of their last 6 matches in all competitions. The hosts are 5th in the league and have every chance to play european football next year, mabe even Champions League if they can recover the 6 point deficit that separates them from Athletic Bilbao. Sevilla won 9 of its last 12 matches in all competitions, including a magnificent qualification over rivals Betis in the last round of the Europa League, 2-0 away after 0-2 at home. Still, the hosts lost 2 consecutive matches prior to the 4-1 drubbing they gave Espanyol a couple of days ago, but both defeats were on the road.
Porto might not be the same team as a couple of years ago, but they still have great quality and proved it clearly over the last few weeks when they beat strong Benfica at home and knocked out Napoli from the Europa League (1-0, 2-2). Porto is pretty much stuck on the 3rd place in the Portugese league, so Europa League is their main objective right now. The visitors have won 4 of their last 5 matches, mainly on the back of very good defense.
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Bet with the best odds and highest limits at Pinnacle. |
Team news & lineups
Sevilla will have to do without Cheryshev, Carrico, Cristoforo and Moreno for this game, while Figueiras is doubtful. Porto will miss Helton, Fernando, Martinez and Ba, with Maicon doubtful. Martinez is a huge absence for the visitors but the substiture hero at Napoli, Ghilas, will take his place.
FC Sevilla: Beto – Coke, Parejo, Fazio, F. Navarro – Iborra, Mbia – Rakitic, Reyes – Gameiro, Bacca
FC Porto: Fabiano – Danilo, Mangala, Maicon, Alex Sandro – Defour, Carlos Eduardo, Herrera – Quaresma, Varela, Ghilas
Sevilla is in great form and is playing brilliant at home, but looking at the first leg, they seemed almost a class below Porto and the portugese side could have even won by a bigger margin. No two matches are similar, but taking into account Porto`s experience and the fact that they are also in great form, the visitors look good value for their money to upset Sevilla here. Porto almost won against a much stronger Napoli side in Italy so getting a result here surely is within their gasp, even without Jackson Martinez. Expect the visitors to punish a shaky Sevilla defense on counters and qualify to the semifinals. My tip is Porto +0,5 handicap (x2) with excellent odds for this bet. Prediction: FC Sevilla – FC Porto 1-2.
Pick: Porto (+0,5)
Odds: 2.07 @ Pinnacle
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 8.56
Event date: 10 April
