Preview: Nottingham Forest vs Porto - prediction, team news, lineups

Nottingham Forest will welcome Porto to the City Ground on Thursday for the second leg of their quarter-final clash in the Europa League.

The two teams are locked level at 1-1 after the first-leg meeting in Portugal, leaving a place in the semi-finals hanging in the balance.

Match preview

Nottingham Forest have had a challenging campaign as a whole, with the Tricky Trees still battling for their Premier League survival, but they have found joy in the Europa League.

Forest actually faced a difficult start in the league phase, recording two draws, one defeat and just one win - a 2-0 triumph over Porto - in their opening four fixtures.

However, a run of three wins and one defeat in their final four league phase games ensured a 13th-placed finish, booking their place in the knockout play-off round against Fenerbahce.

Forest progressed past Fenerbahce with a 4-2 aggregate win, followed by narrowly beating Midtjylland 3-0 on penalties after a 2-2 draw in the round of 16.

Faced against Porto once again in the quarter-finals, Forest were under immense pressure in the first leg, including conceding 16 shots and taking just six, but they managed to escape with a 1-1 draw going into the second leg at their home ground.

While the Tricky Trees will take confidence from their 2-0 victory against Porto at the City Ground during the league phase, Forest have lost both of their home fixtures in the knockout rounds so far.

Porto are also enjoying a significantly stronger season than their hosts, although Vitor Pereira's side are undefeated with two wins and three draws in their last five matches.

Porto, meanwhile, are without defeat in their last eight games across all competitions, and they have lost just once in the Europa League this campaign.

Francesco Farioli's side finished fifth in the league phase after five wins, two draws and one loss, followed by comfortably defeating Stuttgart 4-1 in the round of 16.

Alongside their Europa League success to date, Porto are leading Liga Portugal with a five-point cushion over Sporting Lisbon, with Farioli's side boasting an impressive 24 wins, four draws and just one loss from 29 games.

Those results and their sustained form throughout the 2025-26 season will give Porto great belief coming into this clash, although their record against English opponents is far from favourable.

Porto are actually winless in their last five meetings with English opponents in the Europa League, including the 2-0 defeat and 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest this season.

Nottingham Forest Europa League form:

W W L L W D

Nottingham Forest form (all competitions):

L D W W D D

Porto Europa League form:

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Porto form (all competitions):

W W W D D W

Team News

Nottingham Forest will remain without Jair Cunha, Nicolo Savona, Willy Bolly and John Victor due to injury issues.

The Tricky Trees will be boosted by the return of Elliot Anderson, who was suspended for the first leg, and the midfielder could partner Ibrahim Sangare on Thursday.

The remainder of the side could also remain unchanged from their draw with Aston Villa at the weekend, although Stefan Ortega is expected to come into the team ahead of Matz Sels.

Porto are dealing without the availability of Luuk de Jong, Martim Fernandes, Samu Aghehowa and Nehuen Perez due to injury.

After a dominant display in the first leg, Farioli may opt to name an unchanged team in hopes of another commanding performance and eventual victory on Thursday.

Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:

Ortega; Aina, Murillo, Milenkovic, Williams; Sangare, Anderson; Hutchinson, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Jesus

Porto possible starting lineup:

D Costa; A Costa, Silva, Bednarek, Sanusi; Fofana, Rosario, Veiga; Gomes, Moffi, Sainz

We say: Nottingham Forest 2-1 Porto

Porto may have enjoyed a stronger season as a whole, but Nottingham Forest have had the better of this meeting this term and boast the home advantage, leading us to expect a victory for the Tricky Trees.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.