Europa League | League Stage

Oct 24, 2024 at 8pm UK

Estadio Do Dragao

Porto vs Hoffenheim

Match preview

It was a pity for the Portuguese side that they didn't beat Manchester United in their last Europa League game. They had come back from 2-0 down to take a 3-2 lead by the 50th minute, but were denied all three points when Harry Maguire scored United's equaliser in the 91st minute.

Boss Vitor Bruno wasn't too harsh on his team after the draw. He said that while United's goals came from mistakes, his team just had bad luck that night.

Porto lost 3-2 against Bodo/Glimt in their first league match on 25 September. The match was pretty even until the 51st minute, when Bodo/Glimt were winning 2-1 and were reduced to 10 men.

The hosts have had a great start to their Primeira Liga season, winning seven of their first eight league games. Their only defeat came against leaders Sporting Lisbon in late August.

The Dragons have won three of their last four matches in all competitions and have only lost twice in their last 20 games, winning 14 times.

Porto have an amazing home record, winning 20 of their last 25 home games. They've only lost two, drawn one and won just one of their last four Europa League games at Estadio Do Dragao.

Hoffenheim are coming into the clash on the back of a convincing win against Dynamo Kiev. They had 19 shots and six efforts on target, compared to the Ukrainian side's eight shots and one attempt on target.

The visitors played out a 1-1 draw with FC Midtjylland in their first Europa League match of 2024-25, with Max Moerstedt's late equaliser earning them a point.

The Kraichgauer finished seventh in the Bundesliga last season with 46 points from 34 matches, but are currently fifth from bottom in 14th place with just seven points after seven matchweeks.

I have to hand it to manager Pellegrino Matarazzo and his team. They've won two and drawn one of their last three games, but they did lose four of the prior five matches.

Hoffenheim have been struggling on the road for a while now. They've lost two and drawn two of their last four games away from home, and lost 11, drew four and only won three of their last 18 away games.

Recent Performance

Porto Europa League form:LD

Porto form (all competitions):WLWDWW

Hoffenheim Europa League form:DW

Hoffenheim form (all competitions):LDLWDW

Injuries and suspensions

Porto

5 Iván Marcano

TSG Hoffeinheim

5 Ozan Kabak

19 David Jurásek

3 Pavel Kaderabek

6 Grischa Prömel

8 Dennis Geiger

20 Finn Ole Becker

9 Ihlas Bebou

Possible starting lineups

Porto possible starting lineup:

Costa; Mario, Pedro, Perez, Moura; Eustaquio, Varela, Gonzalez; Pepe, Omorodion, Galeno

Hoffenheim possible starting lineup:

Baumann; Akpoguma, Stach, N'Soki; Gendrey, Bischof, Tohumcu, Prass; Kramaric; Hlozek, Larsen