Preview for FC Porto v Manchester City

Enzo Maresca takes charge of Manchester City in the Champions League for the first time on Tuesday night and is already planning to shake up his side for the trip to FC Porto.

City edged out Coventry at the weekend to make it three wins from three in the Premier League despite the uncertainty caused by Maresca’s arrival to replace Pep Guardiola.

Erling Haaland scored the only goal at the Etihad with his third strike of the season as he goes in search of a fourth Golden Boot in five years.

But the deadly Norwegian could be left out at the Estadio do Dragao with Maresca hinting his number nine could be rested after being an ever-present so far. 

“At the moment, he’s played every minute apart from the Community Shield,” said Maresca.

“We need to protect Erling because the season is very long and he’s going to have games where he needs to recover.

“Depends on the game and gameplan. Antoine [Semenyo] can play nine. Phil [Foden] has played fake nine. It depends on the game.”

Maresca has been willing to blood young players this season as well as thrust the new arrivals straight into the action and he suggested there would be at least three players getting their first taste of Champions League action in Portugal.

He added: “The first game is on Tuesday. The focus will be on that and then we focus on the next one.

“Ayyoub [Bouaddi], [Ryan] McAidoo, Iliman Ndiaye, they haven’t played in the Champions League but they need to start so on Tuesday they are going to start to get minutes.”

Porto have not lost a match all season, extending their winning start under Francesco Farioli to five games with Friday’s slightly edgy 2-1 win over Moreirense.

The Italian led the Portuguese side to the Primeira Liga title in his first campaign in charge and has since been rewarded with a contract extension to 2028.

Team News for FC Porto v Manchester City

Porto have defensive issues with Jan Bednarek suspended. Nehuen Perez is expected to deputise.

Victor Froholdt won’t play after suffering a concussion in the game against Moreirense while Vasco Sousa (leg), Oskar Pietuszewski (leg), Gabriel Mec (groin), Zaidu Sanusi (groin) and Samu Aghehowa (ACL) are also sidelined.

City have their own absentee up front with Jérémy Doku still working his way back from a calf problem.

Nico O’Reilly is also a major doubt after being forced out of the starting XI against Coventry after sustaining an injury in the warm-up.

Expected line-ups for FC Porto v Manchester City

FC Porto: D Costa; A Costa, Perez, Kiwior, Moura; Fofana, Rosario, Veiga; Gomes, Silva, Pepe 

Manchester City: Donnarumma; Nunes, Guehi, Dias, Ait-Nouri; Anderson, Bouaddi; McAidoo, Cherki, Ndiaye; Semenyo

Stats for FC Porto v Manchester City

• City have not lost to Porto in four previous Champions League meetings
• Porto have won only two of their last 16 matches against Premier League clubs (D4 L10)
• Porto were unbeaten in their first 11 home games against English visitors (W5 D6) but have lost seven of their subsequent 14 (W4 D3), winning one of the last eight (D3 L4)
• This is Porto’s 28th Champions League campaign – a Portuguese record, eight more than Benfica – but a first in three seasons. Only Real Madrid, Barcelona (both 31) and Bayern Munich (30) have featured more.
• This is City’s 16th successive season in the Champions League proper, the longest current streak by an English team; they have featured in every campaign since 2011/12 and have reached the knockout stages in each of the last 12
• This is Manchester City’s 150th European Cup match
• Each of City’s last 19 Champions League matches has produced two or more goals

Where to Watch FC Porto v Manchester City: TV and online streams

FC Porto vs Manchester City kicks off at 20:00 BST on Tuesday 8 September at the Estádio do Dragão. The match is being shown live on Amazon Prime Video in the UK.

If you live outside the UK, click the LINK HERE to find out where to watch it in your region.

Prediction for FC Porto v Manchester City

It won’t be a straightforward night for City but they are on a roll at the minute as they look to understand the methods of new coach Maresca.

Porto will make it difficult but City have the greater quality.