Managerless Porto welcome Olympiacos to the Estadio do Dragao for their penultimate League Phase fixture in the Europa League on Thursday night.
Both teams currently sit mid-table in the 36-team standings, with the Portuguese hosts occupying 18th spot as their Greek counterparts sit one point and three places higher in 15th.
Match preview
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Since winning four successive games by an aggregate score of 11-0, including a 2-0 victory over Midtjylland in their most recent Europa League fixture, Porto have suffered defeat in each of their last three domestic matches.
A narrow 1-0 loss to Sporting Lisbon in the Taca da Liga semi-finals was followed by surprising back-to-back Primeira Liga away defeats to Nacional (2-0) and Gil Vicente (3-1), losing to the latter last Sunday.
Just 24 hours after stating that he is "part of the solution, not part of the problem", head coach Vitor Bruno was sacked by Porto on Monday after just six months at the helm, winning 11 of his 29 matches in all competitions. The 42-year-old leaves the club sitting third in the Portuguese top-flight standings and only four points behind the summit.
Porto's academy director Jose Tavares has been placed in interim charge, with his first match coming in the Europa League against Olympiacos, and the Dragons will endeavour to swiftly return to winning ways as they eye last-16 qualification.
Sitting just two points behind the top eight, Porto have won two, drawn two and lost two of their six Europa League matches this term, but they will be confident of success on home soil as they have won five and drawn one of their last six European matches at the Estadio do Dragao.
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In stark contrast to Porto, Olympiacos are enjoying an impressive 16-game unbeaten run across all competitions (W10 D6) and have won each of their last four matches in the Greek Super League.
The Thrylos battled their way to a 2-1 win at last weekend, courtesy of goals from Panagiotis Retsos and Ayoub El Kaabi, and they remain four points clear at the top of the table with seven games of the regular season remaining.
Jose Luis Mendilibar steered Olympiacos to 2023-24 Conference League glory just three months into his tenure, and the Spaniard has since seen his side pick up nine points from their first six matches in this season's Europa League (W2 D3 L1), drawing each of their last three fixtures with Rangers, FCSB and FC Twente.
Olympiacos have played out goalless stalemates with FSCB and Twente in their last two games; only Saint-Etienne in 2014-15 have ever drawn three consecutive matches by a 0-0 scoreline in the competition's history.
The Thrylos, who could climb into the automatic last-16 positions if they beat Porto on Thursday, travel to Portugal having won just one of their last nine away games against Portuguese opposition, while they are winless in their last four visits to Porto (D1 L3).
Team News
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Porto will be without Marko Grujic and Wendell as they continue to recover from muscle injuries, while Ivan Marcano (ACL) will be assessed after making his long-awaited return to training.
Nico Gonzalez was sent off in the closing stages of Porto's domestic defeat to Gil Vicente last time out, but he is available for selection on Thursday and will battle with Alan Varela and Stephen Eustaquio for a start in centre-midfield.
Samuel Omorodion was also dismissed in that match, but he is expected to start again in attack. The 20-year-old has scored five Europa League goals this term and the last Porto player to net more than five in a major European campaign was Moussa Marega in 2018-19 (six).
As for Olympiacos, midfielder Yusuf Yazici is ruled out for the remainder of the season after suffering a cruciate ligament injury, while Santiago Hezze is suspended having picked up three yellow cards in the League Phase.
Eighteen-year-old Christos Mouzakitis is in line to replace Hezze and partner either Dani Garcia, Chiquinho, Marko Stamenic or ex-Porto man Sergio Oliveira in the middle of the pitch.
Ayoub El Kaabi has scored a team-high 17 goals in all competitions this season, at least 12 more than any of his teammates; the Moroccan has netted four times in six Europa League games and is set to lead the line once again.
Porto possible starting lineup:
Costa; Fernandes, Perez, Otavio, Moura; A. Varela, Eustaquio; Pepe, Vieira, Galeno; Omorodion
Olympiacos possible starting lineup:
Tzolakis; Costinha, Restos, Carmo, Ortega; Mouzakitis, Garcia; Rodinei, Chiquinho, Masouras; El Kaabi
We say: Porto 1-1 Olympiacos
While Porto have scored 12 goals and have conceded 10 across their six Europa League matches, only eight times has the net rippled in six games involving Olympiacos (five scored, three conceded), so it is difficult to envisage how this contest will pan out.
A closely-fought encounter could be on the cards, and with both teams determined not to lose their penultimate fixture, they may end up settling for a share of the spoils in Portugal.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Oliver Thomas
