In the first leg of the Europa League Round of 16, FC Porto will face AS Roma at Estadio do Dragão on Thursday- The second leg will be played in Rome next week.

FC Porto, the third-placed team in Liga Portugal, led by Argentine coach Martín Anselmi, had to settle for a 1-1 home draw against Sporting in their UEL warm-up at Estadio do Dragão last Friday. They almost lost, but Danny Namaso equalized in the fourth minute of added time after Ivan Fresneda Corraliza had put Sporting ahead in the first half. The draw was Porto's third consecutive one after four unbeaten league games. Sporting and Roma are roughly the same class.

The home form seems a bit suspicious to me:

In the Europa League group stage, Porto finished 18th, collecting 11 points from eight matches with a goal difference of 13-11. They won 2-0 against Hoffenheim at home, 2-0 against Midtjylland at home, and 1-0 against Maccabi Tel Aviv in Belgrade. Draws came against Anderlecht (2-2 at Lotto Park), Manchester United (3-3 at home), and defeats to Bodø/Glimt (2-3 away), Lazio (1-2 away), and Olympiakos (0-1 at home).

Porto's 13 goals were scored by Samu (5), Nico Gonzalez (1+2), Pepe (1+2), Stephen Eustaquio (1+1), Galeno (1+1), Namaso, Tiago Djalo, Deniz Gul, and Fabio Vieira (1 each).

Porto's goalkeeper Renato Marin is still sidelined with a long-term injury, and Nico Gonzalez - a key midfielder - has transferred to Man City for 60 million euros. He will be missed, but the money should help!

**Possible starting lineup (3-4-2-1)**: Costa; Djalo, Perez, Otavio; Mario, Eustaquio, Varela, Moura; Pepe, Mora; Aghehowa.

Claudio Ranieri's AS Roma, currently 9th in Serie A, took a 1-0 away win against the league’s bottom team Venezia at Stadio Pierluigi Penzo last Sunday. Paulo Dybala scored the winner from a penalty just under an hour into the game. The last time Roma lost in Italy was 2 months ago.

In the Europa League group stage, Roma finished 15th with 12 points from eight games, scoring 10 and conceding 6. They defeated Dynamo Kyiv 1-0, Braga 3-0, and Frankfurt 2-0 at Stadio Olimpico. They drew 1-1 with Athletic Bilbao at home, 1-1 with Royale Union SG at King Baudouin Stadium, and 2-2 with Tottenham at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Roma lost 0-1 to both Elfsborg and Alkmaar away.

Of Roma's 10 goals, Artem Dovbyk scored 2, while Angelino (1+2), Gianluca Mancini (1+1), Evan Ndicka (1+1), Lorenzo Pellegrini (1+1), Saud Abdulhamid, Mario Hermoso, Mats Hummels, and Eldor Shomurodov scored once each.

Roma will be missing defenders Martim Fernandes and Ivan Marcano, and midfielder Marko Grujić for the first leg.

**Possible starting lineup (3-4-2-1)**: Svilar; Mancini, Hummels, Ndicka; Saelemaekers, Kone, Paredes, Angelino; Dybala, Pisilli; Dovbyk.

Since Ranieri took over as head coach in mid-November Roma’s form has shifted from a downward spiral to a much more positive one. They’ve gone unbeaten in their last eight Serie A matches, whereas in the previous nine, they had lost seven times. However, Roma's away performances still lack consistency.

On the other hand, despite Porto's current four-match unbeaten run in Liga Portugal, they have now drawn three times in a row. Looking at player market values both clubs are roughly worth 300 million euros. Absentees are not crucial at either side, Given this, an away win is starting to attract me, but perhaps a draw is the likeliest outcome tonight?

在欧联杯16强的首回合比赛中，波尔图将于周四在德拉<e:1>体育场迎战罗马，第二回合比赛将于下周在罗马进行。

由阿根廷主教练Martín安塞尔米率领的葡萄牙联赛第三名波尔图队，上周五在德拉格<e:1>奥球场与葡萄牙竞技队进行了一场主场1-1战平的热身赛。他们差点输掉比赛，但在加时赛第四分钟丹尼·纳马索扳平比分，此前伊万·弗雷内达·科拉利萨在上半场帮助里斯本竞技队取得领先。这场平局是波尔图在连续四场联赛不败后的第三场平局。体育和罗马大致属于同一类。

对我来说，家庭形式似乎有点可疑：

在欧联杯小组赛中，波尔图8场比赛积11分，以13-11的净胜球排名第18。他们在主场2比0战胜霍芬海姆，在主场2比0战胜米德日兰，在贝尔格莱德1比0战胜特拉维夫马卡比。分别战平安德莱赫特（主场2-2）、曼联（主场3-3）、博多/格里姆特（客场2-3）、拉齐奥（客场1-2）、奥林匹亚科斯（主场0-1）。

波尔图的13粒进球分别是萨穆（5粒）、尼科·冈萨雷斯（1+2粒）、佩佩（1+2粒）、斯蒂芬·尤斯塔基奥（1+1粒）、加莱诺（1+1粒）、纳马索、蒂亚戈·贾洛、丹尼斯·古尔和法比奥·维埃拉（各1粒）。

波尔图门将雷纳托·马林仍因长期伤病缺阵，而中场主力尼科·冈萨雷斯以6000万欧元的价格转会到曼城。我们会想念他的，但这笔钱应该能帮上忙！

**可能的首发阵容(3-4-2-1)**：科斯塔；贾洛，佩雷斯，奥塔维奥；马里奥、尤斯塔基奥、瓦雷拉、莫拉；佩佩,莫拉;Aghehowa。

上周日，拉涅利率领的罗马队在皮耶罗路易吉·潘佐球场客场1-0战胜了联赛垫底的威尼斯队，目前排名意甲第9。保罗·迪巴拉（Paulo Dybala）在比赛开始不到一小时的时候点球破门。罗马上一次在意大利输球是两个月前。

在欧联杯小组赛中，罗马队8场比赛积12分，进10球失6球，排名第15。他们在奥林匹克体育场以1比0击败基辅迪纳摩，3比0击败布拉加，2比0击败法兰克福。他们在主场1比1战平毕尔巴鄂竞技，在博杜安国王球场1比1战平皇家联盟SG，在托特纳姆热刺球场2比2战平热刺。罗马客场0-1不敌埃尔夫斯堡和阿尔克马尔。

在罗马的10粒进球中，多比克攻入2球，安杰利诺（1+2）、曼奇尼（1+1）、恩迪卡（1+1）、佩莱格里尼（1+1）、阿卜杜勒-哈米德、赫尔莫索、胡梅尔斯、肖姆罗多夫各攻入1球。

罗马后卫费尔南德斯和马尔卡诺以及中场格鲁吉维奇将缺席首回合比赛。

**可能的首发阵容(3-4-2-1)**：相似；曼奇尼、胡梅尔斯、恩迪卡；塞勒迈克斯、通力、帕雷德斯、安杰利诺；Dybala Pisilli;Dovbyk。

自从拉涅利在11月中旬接任主教练以来，罗马的状态已经从一个下降的螺旋转向了一个更加积极的状态。他们在最近的八场意甲比赛中保持不败，而在之前的九场比赛中，他们输了七场。然而，罗马的客场表现仍然缺乏稳定性。

另一方面，尽管波尔图目前在葡萄牙联赛中保持了四场不败，但他们现在已经连续三场平局。从球员市场价值来看，两家俱乐部的身价都在3亿欧元左右。缺阵对双方来说都不是关键，考虑到这一点，一场客场胜利开始吸引我，但也许今晚最有可能的结果是平局？