In a mouth-watering clash of the Europa League pre-quarterfinals, reigning Portuguese champion FC Porto takes on the Italian giants Napoli at home. Porto are fighting a hopeless battle to retain their Liga Sagres crown. They are third at the moment – nine points behind league leaders Benfica.

Napoli are also third in the Serie A, with no chances of catching up with the table-topping Juventus who is 15 points away. In short, Europa league crown is the only real chance of a major title in this season for both the teams.

Both the teams came into the Europa league after their early exit from the UEFA Champions League – by virtue of their third-place finish in their respective groups. They qualified directly to the knock-out stage.

Porto have a great reputation of punching above their weight in European championships. They will be confident of a win at home against Napoli, which will allow them to put pressure on the Italian side in the second leg.

Napoli will be happy with a draw – preferably a 1-1 or 2-2 draw. They do not have any problem with scoring goals, for they have a prolific attack. But their defence is a bit leaky. Their away performance in the continental league is not that encouraging either, with the win against Marseille being the only away win of the season.

Napoli have a great attacking combo – Gonzalo Higuaín, José Maria Callejón and Goran Pandev. Porto has a terrific striker in Jackson Martínez, who can be as deadly as Higuaín on his day. If his support cast of Josué and Silvestre Varela rise to the occasion, Porto will rattle the Napoli defence.

Napoli’s preferred template for the European competitions is to defend for an away draw and attack for a home win. Porto can settle with nothing short of a win. A draw, probably 1-1, is a good bet.

Porto-Napoli Prediction

Draw 3.40 @ Bet365.com