Nottingham Forest – Porto

The hosts will not be able to end their losing streak with a European Cup victory.

A week before the third round match of the Europa League between Nottingham Forest and Porto, the English club was considered the favourite. Despite a series of defeats for the 'Blades' and convincing performances from the Portuguese side. As the match approached, the odds on the opponents levelled out, and just before the match, it was not possible to rule out a change in favourite. On Tuesday, the officials of Nottingham Forest made an important announcement for the club. Sean Dyche, who previously managed Burnley for a long time and had a comparatively short spell at Everton, was appointed to replace the recently sacked Ange Postecoglou. Given the depth of the slump Nottingham Forest is in, the change of coach was a logical decision from the Greek president of the club. However, logic has been absent in his decisions before - when he sacked Nuno Santo at the beginning of September. Since Dyche will be the third coach in two months, and Nottingham Forest is performing terribly, it is unclear how much time the new coach will need to pull the team out of this steep decline. It is also unknown whether he will be given this time, as Postecoglou had also stated that there was no prospect of quickly improving the 'Blades' performance. Meanwhile, the leader of the Portuguese league is coming to Nottingham. Unlike the aforementioned examples, Francesco Farioli, who was appointed Porto’s coach in July, immediately started delivering results. It is worth noting that the Italian took over the third-placed club from the last Portuguese league season. Just before the match, bookmakers do not see a favourite in this encounter, offering a slight bias in the odds towards the home team. Nottingham Forest will take to the pitch of their stadium not only under a new coach but also with a nightmare streak of four defeats. Among the 'Blades' recent tormentors are Sunderland and Midtjylland. Explaining defeats to such opponents to their fans is quite challenging. Porto, in the current season, has won ten out of eleven official matches, remaining unbeaten. The only draw was recorded in their match against Benfica, but even in that, the 'Eagles' managed only one shot on target against Porto. The visitors are stable and focused on success, so a defeat for them in Nottingham should not be expected.