Porto to have work cut out away to Krasnodar

FK Krasnodar welcome FC Porto to hostile Russia for the first leg in the penultimate round of Champions League qualifying, with a reasonable start in the Russian Premier League, Krasnodar will be confident of giving the 2004 competition winners a tough test. It is a massive opportunity in this leg for the Black-Greens that they will need to capitalise on, with the difficult task of travelling to the Estadio do Dragao on the horizon. Porto come into this one as narrow favourites however having not played any competitive football since late May, Krasnodar may have the edge.

Home advantage

It is a long journey across Europe, almost 7500 kilometres and having had a mixed pre-season it will not be easy. Krasnodar have also performed well in their one home match so far in the Russian Premier League. They beat Sochi 3-0 with striker Ivan Ignatjev bagging a brace and substitute Magomed-Shapi Suleymanov grabbing the third. Porto have lost their last two Champions League away games, in the first leg of those respective ties with Roma and Liverpool. Though Krasnodar do not boast the squad of those two giants they have enough to impose themselves on this tie on Wednesday evening.

Fitness

Nothing can replicate the real thing and the domestic season in Portugal is yet to get up and running. The Black-Greens are four games in already so should have an extra yard on their opponents, and Porto have the first match of the 2019/20 campaign looming over them, an away trip to Gil Vicente. While Krasnodar are back at home facing eighth-placed Rubin Kazan. The hosts’ strength comes in midfield, and with added legs they could pose a threat to the visitors who are the more skilled side. Krasnodar achieved an impressive draw on the road to reigning champions Zenit St. Petersburg last time out, with Serbian centre-back Uros Spajic coping brilliantly with giant Russian forward Artem Dzyuba. He won four aerials duels and four tackles, standing him in good stead to take on the likes of Moussa Marega and maybe even Vincent Aboubakar.

FK Krasnodar have demonstrated so far this season that they can compete with the better teams in their league and with good results against the Valencia and Bayer Leverkusen at Krasnodar Stadium in last seasons’ Europa League they will challenge Porto in this match.

FK Krasnodar – Porto Betting Tip

Double Chance FK Krasnodar to Win or Draw with Bethard at odds of 18/35.

Bet Double Chance FK Krasnodar to Win or Draw on Bethard