Marseille will be hoping to avoid a third consecutive defeat in the Champions League when they travel to Porto for Tuesday's Group C showdown.
In contrast, the hosts are aiming to make it two wins out of three following defeat to Manchester City and victory over Olympiacos so far.
Match preview
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Porto's abysmal record on English soil continued when the Portuguese champions travelled to Manchester City for their matchday one clash, with the Citizens easing to a 3-1 victory on the night.
However, Sergio Conceicao's men turned their fortunes around in their battle with fellow domestic champions Olympiacos as goals from Fabio Vieira and Sergio Oliveira propelled Porto to a 2-0 victory at the Estadio do Dragao last week, with the Primeira Liga champions desperate to secure second spot in the group behind City, who are expected to finish top, of course.
As things stand, Conceicao's side are level on points with Olympiacos but sit above the Greek champions on goal difference after two matches, and Olympiacos will certainly not be likely to come away from their clash with Manchester City with something to show for it on Tuesday.
Should Porto triumph against Marseille on matchday three, the Portuguese champions will have laid down a marker as they look to advance to the knockout stages for the fourth year running, but their preparations for Tuesday's game were far from ideal.
Indeed, Conceicao witnessed his side come out on the wrong end of the scoreline in a five-goal thriller with Pacos de Ferreira at the weekend, meaning that Porto have only picked up two wins from their last six in all competitions.
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Meanwhile, Marseille were the masters of their own downfall against Manchester City as individual mistakes cost Les Olympiens last week, and if there is any team that is guaranteed to punish those sort of errors, it is City.
Andre Villas-Boas had already seen his side suffer a heartbreaking late defeat to Olympiacos on matchday one, and the Marseille manager switched up his approach for the visit of City, but Guardiola's side ultimately ran out 3-0 winners courtesy of goals from Ferran Torres, Ilkay Gundogan and Raheem Sterling.
Les Olympiens were scheduled to face a high-flying Lens side in Ligue 1 at the weekend, but owing to a coronavirus outbreak in the Sang et Or camp, the game was postponed and Marseille have had the luxury of an extra few days off before they make the journey to the Estadio do Dragao.
Marseille are enjoying a five-game unbeaten run in the French top flight, but their domestic form has not translated into results on the European stage, with Les Olympiens' first venture in the Champions League for seven years at serious risk of ending prematurely for Villas-Boas and co.
Furthermore, Marseille have failed to beat Porto in the four meetings between the two sides down the years, with the Portuguese champions enjoying 2-1 and 1-0 victories on home turf in the 2003-04 and 2007-08 Champions League seasons respectively.
Porto Champions League form: LW
Porto form (all competitions): LDLWWL
Marseille Champions League form: LL
Marseille form (all competitions): DDWLWL
Team News
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Porto's only two injury concerns are Mouhamed Mbaye and Ivan Marcano, with Conceicao otherwise having a fully-fit squad at his disposal for Tuesday's game.
Veteran defender Pepe missed out the weekend defeat after confusion regarding a coronavirus test, but the 37-year-old is available here after it was confirmed that he tested negative.
Zaidu Sanusi served a suspension at the weekend but is expected to come back in on the left-hand side of defence here.
Meanwhile, Villas-Boas's five-man defence did not pay dividends against Man City, and the Marseille manager is sure to switch to a more familiar back four as the visitors go all out in search of a win.
Hiroki Sakai is serving a domestic suspension but is available on Tuesday, with Morgan Sanson likely to be recalled to the midfield and Leonardo Balerdi at risk of dropping down to the bench.
Dimitri Payet is also be holding out for a start after appearing as a substitute against City, and the same goes for Dario Benedetto, who is still waiting for that elusive first goal of the season.
Porto possible starting lineup:
Marchesin; Manafa, Pepe, Mbemba, Sanusi; Oliveira, Uribe, Otavio; Corona, Marega, Diaz
Marseille possible starting lineup:
Mandanda; Sakai, Gonzalez, Caleta-Car, Amavi; Kamara, Sanson, Cuisance; Thauvin, Benedetto, Payet
We say: Porto 2-1 Marseille
Marseille's journey in the Champions League could be about to end as soon as it began, with Porto desperate to make amends following their weekend defeat. The hosts know what it takes to qualify for the knockout stages and were full value for their win over Olympiacos last week, so we are backing Porto to claim all three points in this one, but it is sure to be close.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a double chance bet on a home win or an away win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Home/Away:data
Ben Knapton
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Porto win with a probability of 49.9%. A win for Marseille had a probability of 28.21% and a draw had a probability of 21.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Porto win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.24%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (6.56%) and 2-0 (6.44%). The likeliest Marseille win was 1-2 (6.76%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (9.42%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 4.2% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Porto would win this match.
