Inspired by Andrew Beasley’s excellent statistical scouting of our upcoming Champions League opposition FC Porto, I’ve decided to add to it with some video clips and analysis looking at the key threats (and potential weaknesses) Beez outlined in his article.

First of all, where does Porto’s creativity come from? With 22 big chances created between them, it appears as though their main creativity comes from the full-backs. Alex Telles – the left-back – has created 13 and Ricardo Pereira – the right-back – has nine on the other side. Because Porto are top of league, and incredibly dominant in terms of expected goals (the best in Europe), it is more than likely that they face a lot of low blocks or teams dropping off. As we know, this often requires the full-backs to exploit the space left by the narrow defence on the edge of the penalty area.

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