5 Reasons Arsenal Will Beat Porto at the Emirates Stadium and Reach UCL Quarter Final

• Arsenal face a must-win Champions League match against FC Porto later tonight
• Porto beat the English team 1-0 in the first leg of the Round of 16 two weeks ago
• The Gunners are hoping to reach their first quarter-final since the 2009/10 season

Arsenal face a must-win UEFA Champions League Round of 16 second-leg match against FC Porto at the Emirates Stadium tonight for a chance in the quarter-final.

The Gunners lost the first leg at the Estadio do Dragao in Portugal thanks to Galeno’s brilliant last-minute strike, which left David Raya with absolutely no chance.

Per Transfermarkt, the Gunners have not played in the last eight of the Champions League since their 6-3 aggregate loss to FC Barcelona in the 2009/10 season.

Sports Brief looks at five reasons Mikel Arteta's side will beat their opponents tonight.

How Roma have fared since they sacked Jose Mourinho in January

Football

Five reasons Arsenal will beat Porto

1. Porto's record on English soil

The Portuguese team has won only once on English soil. They beat Chelsea 1-0 at Stamford Bridge in the 2020/21 season thanks to Mehdi Taremi’s late strike. The Blues won 2-1 on aggregate and won the competition, beating Manchester City 1-0 in the final at Porto's home stadium.

2. Arsenal's home advantage

Arteta's team have won all three games at home this season, with victories over Sevilla, RC Lens, and PSV Eindhoven, scoring 12 goals without conceding. This record has the hopes high on the North London team to progress.

3. Head-to-head record

Per Arsenal.com, the Gunners have won all three previous meetings against Porto at the Emirates Stadium with an aggregate scoreline of 11-0. Two of those encounters came in the UCL group stage, while the third was in the Round of 16 in 2010.

Arsenal players cars 2024: Bukayo Saka, Havertz, Partey included amid EPL title charge

Football

4. Arsenal's 2024 form

Bar the FA Cup 2-0 loss to Liverpool and the first leg loss to Porto, the Gunners have won all their eight Premier League games in 2024, scoring 33 goals and conceding four. In five of those games, they scored four goals or more.

5. Knockout stage record

Arsenal have trouble overcoming a first-leg loss in the knockout of the UCL. Per Opta Analyst, they were eliminated nine out of 10 times that they have lost the first leg. They only turned it around against Porto in the 2009/10 Round of 16, winning 5-0 after a 2-1 loss.

Arsenal's last seven UCL knockout stage outings

Sports Brief analysed Arsenal's performance in UCL knockout stages in their last seven appearances, all of which came in the Round of 16 stage where they were eliminated.

Familiar nightmares, Barcelona and Bayern Munich, were responsible for a combined five of those eliminations in the top tier, while AC Milan and AS Monaco scored one apiece.