Porto vs Liverpool - Visitors must be wary of attacking full-back threat

In the shadow of Real Madrid’s welcome of PSG, Liverpool take on Liga NOS leaders FC Porto in the hope of following in the footsteps of their Premier League counterparts. Manchester City romped to a 4-0 win over FC Basel, while Tottenham fought back valiantly to draw 2-2 with Serie A champions Tottenham. 

The duo holds the advantage after their first leg results and Liverpool will hope to follow suit. The Reds may come into this on the back of a comfortable 2-0 win at Southampton, yet FC Porto pose a significantly stronger threat than the lowly south coast side. 

The Portuguese giants have failed to win just three competitive home games this season, though admittedly their sole home loss was in the Champions League as Besiktas landed a surprise 3-1 win in Porto back in September. However, it won’t be plain sailing for Liverpool, with the hosts' attacking full-backs on hand to stretch opponents on a whim. 

Ricardo Pereira has been a revelation for Porto on the back of a two-year loan spell with Nice, while Alex Telles on the opposite flank as an effective wide outlet. Indeed, Telles has made more key passes (13) than any other defender in the Champions League this season, with Pereira behind his teammate on 12. 

Telles (7.42) and Pereira (7.34) rank third and fourth as Porto’s best-rated players in the Champions League this season. For all of Liverpool’s attacking vigour, they need to keep their wits about them in order to ensure Porto’s full-back duo don’t overrun the Premier League side. 

That being said, Liverpool are more than capable of exploiting any defensive flaws in Porto’s game. Only PSG (25) have scored more Champions League goals than Liverpool (23) this season and if Telles and Pereira are caught up field, the likes of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino are capable of punishing their Portuguese counterparts. 

Mane’s form may have dipped, but Firmino and Salah come into this clash on top of their game. Firmino (8.33) and Salah (8.29) rank fourth and fifth, respectively, as the top rated players in the Champions League this season. Either way, the match up between the wingers and full-backs at the Estadio do Dragao should prove to be an exciting one on Wednesday night.