Porto vs Copenhagen Predictions & Betting Tips, Match Previews

Porto, who finished a disappointing 3rd in last season’s Portuguese Primeira Liga, drew one of the worst sides possible in their Champions League playoff match in August. They had to face Serie A giants Roma, but a 1-1 draw in Portugal was followed by an excellent 3-0 win in Rome to get them to the group stages for the 3rd consecutive year.

This playoff victory is one part of a fairly successful opening stage to the campaign for Porto. They beat Rio Ave in their Primeira Liga opener and, after drawing with Roma, then beat Estoril 1-0 at home. A 2-1 defeat to the in-form Sporting CP followed, but they bounced back from this disappointment with a 3-0 defeat of Vitoria at the weekend to leave them 3rd in the table.

Porto have also had to deal with the yearly exodus of top players from their team this summer. Key players such as Maicon, Vincent Aboubakar and Josue have left, although some just on loan. Meanwhile, they have brought in defenders Alex Telles and Felipe, striker Laurent Depoitre, and Oliver on loan from Atletico Madrid. Overall it’s probably an improvement on their squad from last season, but they’ll take a while to gel.

The Portugese giants couldn’t have hoped for a much more favourable draw in the Champions League either. They’re in a group with Club Brugge, Leicester and Copenhagen and will feel they’re definite favourites to qualify top of the group.

Copenhagen won’t be planning on lying down for the hosts though. They know as much as anyone that this is a group that is potentially wide open for surprises. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that they can qualify for the knockout rounds for just the second time in their history.

However, this will almost certainly prove their toughest test of the Champions League group stages. Porto are a huge team in comparison to them, although Copenhagen can take heart from the fact that they are unbeaten in their last 14 matches and saw off the likes of Crusaders, Astra, and APOEL to make it this far.

I think this might be a step too far for the Copenhagen boys though. They have lost five of their last nine away days in the Champions League, with all of those defeats being by more than a single goal margin. Meanwhile, Porto have won seven of their last ten Champions League games on home soil, with five of them being comfortable margins of victory.

This makes odds of 1.925 for a Porto -1.0 Asian Handicap Win look excellent value for money, so that’s what I’m backing along with a 2-0 correct score prediction at 6/1.