Europa League

2026-04-09 - Porto vs Nottingham Forest

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Porto v Nottingham Forest
Football: UEFA Europa League Quarter Final First Leg
Thursday 9th April 2026 - Kick Off 8pm
This game is live on TV

Porto

Last season was the first since 1977 that Porto had completed back to back Portuguese League campaigns without a top two finish. No one should be surprised that those consecutive 3rd place finishes meant another managerial change, but Francesco Farioli may not be here for a long time as he receives admiring attention from outside of Porto having taken the team to the top of the domestic League and into the Quarter Final of the Europa League.

They are being chased by back to back Portuguese Champions Sporting Lisbon, but both Sporting and Porto will be focusing on big UEFA Quarter Final ties this week. Finishing 5th in the Europa League Group meant a direct spot in the Last 16 of the competition and Porto won both Legs against Stuttgart to make impressive progress. The side have won all 5 home Europa League games played this season as Porto look to secure a First Leg advantage in the Quarter Final.

Porto won the last 4 games played in all competitions prior to the March international break, but conceded in the 99th minute in a 2-2 draw with Famalicao on the return. They are unbeaten in 13 at home in all competitions and Porto had won 11 of 12 before that draw this past weekend.

Nottingham Forest

An early FA Cup exit meant another weekend for Vitor Pereira to work with his Nottingham Forest squad who produced a big 0-3 win at Tottenham Hotspur prior to the March international break. Retaining Premier League status is hugely important, but Pereira has also made it clear that the owner of the club feels like Nottingham Forest should be making a real effort at trying to win the Europa League.

Finding that balance between domestic and European commitments has been difficult, but Nottingham Forest showed character in beating Midtjylland away from home in the Europa League Last 16 Second Leg to overcome a home defeat. They needed Penalties to progress, but the manager used that momentum to guide Nottingham Forest to an important win over Spurs days later. The Tricky Trees have won half of the 6 away Europa League games played this season, including both played in the Knock Out Stages.

Nottingham Forest have only lost 1 of the last 5 games played in all competitions and consecutive wins will have given the squad a huge amount of confidence. Vitor Pereira has managed 5 away games as Nottingham Forest manager and 3 of those have ended in wins, while the side have suffered a single defeat at Brighton.

Jair Cunha is a doubt, while Chris Wood is edging closer to a return.

Head to Head

Nottingham Forest beat Porto 2-0 at home in the League Phase of the competition.

This will be the first competitive fixture between the clubs hosted by Porto.

Prediction

The big win at Tottenham Hotspur has just offered Nottingham Forest a bit of breathing room in the battle to avoid the drop in the English Premier League and that may allow Vitor Pereira to invest more stock into trying to win the Europa League.

They are on the tougher side of the Knock Out Bracket and this tie against the Portuguese League leaders is going to be very competitive.

There is some real quality in the Nottingham Forest squad and they did beat Porto impressively at the City Ground in the League Phase of the Europa League. Keeping things tight in the First Leg will certainly have Nottingham Forest fans believing they can do what is needed to in order to reach the Semi Final back at the City Ground next week.

However, keeping things tight will be tough against a Porto team that have been very strong at home all season and who score plenty of goals in front of the supporters.

Porto have scored 12 goals in 5 home Europa League games, while they have scored at least twice in 6 of the last 8 home games in all competitions, including the last 4 in a row.

Keeping clean sheets has been more of a test for Porto and they are going to be given a tough time by Nottingham Forest- the team news is important, but Vitor Pereira has picked strong teams in the Knock Out ties played in the Europa League and there is little reason to change that having had two and a half weeks away from action since Nottingham Forest crushed Tottenham Hotspur in North London.

Since taking over as manager, all 5 away Nottingham Forest games have ended with at least three goals shared out and that may be the case in the First Leg of this Europa League Quarter Final.

Both teams can cause problems when getting forward and it would not be a surprise if Porto and Nottingham Forest get on the scoreboard.

The 1-1 scoreline is perhaps the most dangerous, but Porto are unlikely to settle for that and could be a key reason this fixture is played in an open, attacking manner.