Porto vs Lyon: Betting on a line of cards

In the first leg of the Europa League round of 16, Porto will play host to Lyon at home. Will the French club be able to pick up their first win against the Dragons in their seventh encounter?

In the previous round of the Europa League playoffs, Porto played two difficult games against Lazio. Sergio Conceicao's side beat the Serie A side at 2:1 at home and drew 2:2 in Rome. Since then, Porto played three games. First, the Dragons drew 1:1 with Gil Vicente in the Premiership. Then, Porto defeated arch-rivals Sporting in the Portuguese Cup semi-final (2:1). Last week, Porto got back on the winning track in the Primera as the Dragons thrashed Pasos de Ferreira 4:2 away. Porto is now six points ahead of Sporting.

Lyon starts their playoff appearances in the Europa League from the round of 16. Lyon was excellent in the French championship last week. Lyon performed well in the French championships. Before that, the club had shared points with Lens (1:1) and lost to Lille (0:1). Lyon climbed to ninth place in the Ligue 1 table thanks to their latest win.

On the whole, Porto looks stronger than their opponents this season. Therefore, it's no surprise that the Portuguese club is considered favourites for the upcoming encounter, with the Dragons playing on home soil. We suggest looking at the statistics on cards. The most recent games involving Porto produced five or more cautions. We don't rule out that the game in Portugal could turn out to be very tense with fierce fighting. We also suggest betting on a win for the home side.