The Gunners finally ended a poor run of draws and losses with a 1-0 win over Liverpool at Emirates. With Chelsea and Manchester United drawing or losing their last Premier League fixtures,
Arsenal could possibly be in the title race yet again. They are currently 6 points behind the league leaders and the players' confidence will receive a huge boost as a result. Wenger will want his team to score at least once while in Portugal to make the return leg a little bit easier, even if they were to lose 2-1. The Gunners will look to control the ball and be very effective in the counterattack to achieve this end. Andrei Arshavin and Alex Song are new injury doubts but striker
Eduardo will likely return to the squad as a substitute. Arsene Wenger may not field his strongest squad and
Nicklas Bendtner will likely get the starting nod, but the Gunners will nevertheless be a tough opponent to beat.
After starting their 09/10 season right where they left off last year, reigning champions
FC Porto went through a tough period where they dropped many points and are now 9 points behind league leaders Benfica in the Portuguese Liga. It appears that their run of 6 consecutive league titles may be at an end. The players could be losing morale as this realization sets in, but Porto have shown an amazing resiliency and have not lost a match in 12 games. They will see the Champions League as their last major chance at silverware this season and will concentrate fully on the task at hand. Expect manager
Jesualdo Ferreira to adopt an attacking formation as star striker
Hulk is back from suspension. Porto will be without Raul Meireles, Christian Rodriguez and Ernesto Farias for this clash.
Porto will come out with an effective attacking approach and will believe they can produce results in front of their home fans. Arsenal are playing with a somewhat weakened squad and will play more cautiously. Because Porto are very likely to be out of the race for a domestic championship, they will give their all to try and get a good lead before the return leg.
FC Porto vs Arsenal FC
Wednesday February 17, 2010
Kickoff: 8:45 PM (CET)
Venue: Estadio de Dragao (Porto)
Tip: FC Porto +0 (Asian Handicap)
Best Odds: 1.80 @ Interwetten
