Porto vs Nottingham Forest live: Confirmed teams and full Europa League quarter final line ups
Europa League quarter-final teams as Porto host Forest
Porto and Nottingham Forest have confirmed their starting teams for their Europa League quarter-final first-leg meeting at the Estadio do Dragao on Thursday.
Forest overturned a 1-0 first-leg deficit to win on penalties at Danish side Midtjylland in the last 16. Porto beat Stuttgart 4-1 on aggregate.
The winners of the tie will face Bologna or Aston Villa in the semi-finals. Those teams also meet in their quarter-final first leg at the Renato Dall’Ara Stadium on Thursday (20:00 BST).
101GreatGoals.com has the team news and starting line-ups as Porto host Forest in the Europa League.
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Porto confirmed team vs Nottingham Forest
Centre-back Nehuen Perez (Achilles), midfielder Luuk de Jong (knock) and forward Samu Aghehowa (knee) are sidelined for Porto.
Assistant coach Andre Castro is suspended and Alberto Costa, Jan Bednarek, William Gomes, Rodrigo Mora, Pablo Rosario, Dominik Prpic and Zaidu Sanusi are a booking away from bans in the competition.
Porto starting XI: Diogo Costa, Martim Fernandes, Thiago Silva, Jan Bednarek, Zaidu Sanusi, Seko Fofana, Pablo Rosario, Gabri Veiga, William Gomes, Terem Moffi, Borja Sainz
Porto substitutes: Jakub Kiwior, Victor Froholdt, Pepe, Claudio Ramos, Alberto Costa, Dominik Prpic, Alan Varela, Joao Costa, Deniz Gul, Tiago Silva, Francisco Moura, Rodrigo Mora
Nottingham Forest full line up vs Porto
Chris Wood was the leading English scorer in last season’s Premier League with 20 goals and the New Zealand striker returns to a much-changed Forest line-up after six months out with a knee injury.
Goalkeeper John Victor and defenders Willy Boly and Nicolo Savona remain out with knee problems, as does centre-back Jair Cunha with an ankle issue.
Midfielder Elliot Anderson is banned and Murillo, Morgan Gibbs-White, Igor Jesus, Morato and Ryan Yates must avoid bookings or incur suspensions.
Nottingham Forest starting XI: Stefan Ortega, Nicolas Dominguez, Zach Abbott, Murillo, Morato, James McAtee, Ryan Yates, Morgan Gibbs-White, Dilane Bakwa, Chris Wood, Dan Ndoye
Forest substitutes: Matz Sels, Neco Williams, Ibrahim Sangare, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Igor Jesus, Lorenzo Lucca, Omari Hutchinson, Nikola Milenkovic, Ola Aina, Archie Whitehall, Jimmy Sinclair, Justin Hanks
Where to watch Porto vs Forest: TV channel, live online streams
Kick-off on Thursday is at 20:00 BST (15:00 ET / 12:00 PT). Live TV coverage in the UK is on TNT Sports 1 and the HBO Max app.
TNT Sports costs £30.99 a month and is available on a vast range of devices including smart TVs and gaming consoles.
Porto vs Nottingham Forest stats
- Porto have won two of their last 14 European matches against English teams (D3 L9) and are winless in their last seven such matches in this competition (D2 L5)
- Porto have lost their last eight two‑legged ties against English teams, a run stretching back to their 3-2 aggregate victory over Manchester United in the 2003/04 Champions League round of 16
- Only eliminated PAOK and Viktoria Plzen have had as many red cards in this season’s competition as Porto (3)
- This is Porto’s fifth quarter‑final appearance in the competition (W2 L2), with their most recent a 4-2 aggregate defeat to Sevilla in 2013/14 and their last advancement at this stage a 10-3 aggregate win over Spartak Moscowin 2010/11
- They are unbeaten in their last seven Europa League matches (W5 D2), winning each of their three most recent games, as well as all five of their home matches in their European campaign this season
- All five of those home games featured first-half Porto goals
- Only Bologna and Celta Vigo can match Forest’s tally of 21 goals in this season’s competition. Porto have 17
- Bologna (94) are the only team still involved to have completed more crosses than Forest (59)
- Forest’s total of four goals from penalties in the 2025/26 Europa League is two more than any other team still in the competition
- They prevailed in the only previous European meeting between the sides, winning 2-0 at home during this season’s league phase on October 2023 in their first game under Sean Dyche, who was succeeded by Vitor Pereira as the club’s fourth manager of the season on February 15
- The Premier League club have won 18 of their 23 previous European two-legged ties, winning three of their four most recent European away games (L1) as part of a run of four wins, three draws and two defeats in their last nine continental fixtures on the road