Porto v Lazio Betting Tips [17 February 2022]

The current leaders of the Portuguese Primeira Liga FC Porto host Italian side Lazio in this Europa League round of 32 elimination match. The hosts arrived at this matchup as a result of finishing third in a tough Champions League group which included Liverpool, Atletico and AC Milan. The challengers Lazio earned this match after finishing second with nine points in what was also a relatively tricky Europa League group. Porto are coming off a 2-2 draw to Sporting in an important match which held huge title implications. The result snapped the Dragons perfect home league record of 10 wins out of 10 and also put an end to their run of 11 straight victories in all competitions. Lazio will certainly have their hands full against this red-hot Porto side but Maurizio Sarri’s men have been in relatively good form as of late. Despite suffering a humiliating 4-0 loss to AC Milan in the Coppa Italia quarter-finals, a match which saw them trailing 3-0 at the half, the Biancoceleste were able to bounce back with a strong performance and a 3-0 win over Bologna in their most recent match. 

With that win, Lazio have now only lost once in their last six matches. Their defense has been much improved, keeping five clean sheets and only conceding away to AC Milan throughout that run. While Porto have of course been impressive this season in the league, the Italian Serie A is leaps and bounds ahead of the Primeira Liga in terms of quality. With Lazio’s improved form we’re a bit hesitant to back a straight Porto win, however there could be value in backing there to be goals in this match. Both teams have been hot on the scoring end, with Porto having found the net in all 22 league matches and lead the league with 57 goals scored. Lazio often favor an offensive approach under Sarri and despite their recent clean sheet run, have been involved in a number of high scoring matches this season.