Champions League Round of 16: Arsenal vs Porto second leg betting preview

Arsenal’s Champions League aspirations are at risk of ending on Tuesday as they welcome Portuguese giants Porto to the Emirates for the second leg of their Champions League Round of 16 tie. The kick-off is scheduled for 4 PM ET. Porto is currently up 1-0 after a nailbiter victory on home soil last month thanks to a last-gasp winner from Galeno. The Gunners are in fine form and just beat Brentford 2-1 over the weekend to remain in the Premier League title race after Liverpool and Man City’s 1-1 draw. Porto meanwhile is third in the Primeira Liga, seven points off the top. Below, we’ll preview the match and discuss any injury news.

Arsenal

What a campaign it’s been for Arsenal. Despite falling off towards the end of last term in regards to the title race, it doesn’t appear that’s going to happen in 2023-24. Mikel Arteta’s men are tied with Liverpool on 64 points in first place in the Premier League and have every chance to lift the grand prize in the next couple of months. The Gunners are 20-4-4, having bagged a top-flight-best 70 goals while conceding just 24 in 28 outings.

Bukayo Saka is having a marvelous season, leading the line with 13 goals and eight assists. Declan Rice, Gabriel Martinelli, Martin Odegaard, and Leandro Trossard, among others, are all doing their part in the final third, too. This is a very good side who have won eight straight league matches. The defeat to Porto on February 21st was a real heartbreaker though, with Porto scoring at the death of injury time.

While winning the EPL is surely the goal, getting as far as possible in the Champions League is undoubtedly on Arsenal’s mind, too. The hosts are a perfect 3-0-0 in the competition at the Emirates and have only lost once all season on home soil. BetVictor is giving the Gunners steep -500 odds to win Tuesday.

Porto

Porto is a regular in the Champions League but they’ve failed to get past the Round of 16 since 2020-21. This is typically the stage where the Dragons bow out. That being said, Sergio Conceicao’s side does travel to the Emirates with an advantage after Galeno’s mind-boggling strike to shock Arsenal in the return tie from way outside of the 18-yard box. 

The Galeno season ARSENAL should just be ready for this guy.... So Good 😊 https://t.co/FFW6ZVFQoI pic.twitter.com/waKYyaHEYM

— 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐆 𝐃𝐄𝐙𝐎 𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐇🦅❤️ (@dezo_rich) March 4, 2024

Porto did very well in the group stages, compiling a 4-0-2 record alongside Barcelona, Shakhtar Donetsk, and Antwerp. And for what it’s worth, both defeats were to Barca. Domestically the Dragons are 17-4-4, conceding a league-low 17 goals in 25 games. They have a very strong backline who will need to be extremely solid again on Tuesday against an Arsenal attack who are firing on all cylinders.

The one to watch for Porto is Galeno. He’s got five goals and three assists in the UCL along with another six goals and six assists in Portugal. The Brazilian showed what he’s capable of in the first leg and will be one for Arsenal to try and keep at bay in North London. Porto is a major underdog if you’re doing any soccer betting here.

Injury news

Martinelli suffered a gruesome cut to his foot versus Brentford and won’t likely be recovered in time to play on Tuesday. Takehiro Tomiyasu is still injured, while Jurrien Timber (ACL) is still rehabbing for Arsenal. Oleksandr Zinchenko is back in action. As for Porto, they’re without Gabriel Veron, Wendell, Zaidu Sanusi, and Ivan Marcano.