The game between the French and Portuguese outfits promises to deliver in this round Champions League Qualifiers but what can we expect from the game down at the Stadium Nord Lille Métropole.
Firstly looking at the home side for the first Leg, Lille qualified by finishing 3rd in Ligue 1 and beating Grasshopper 3-1 on aggregate in the 3rd Qualifying round. They have started the domestic league fairly well which will put them in good stead by picking up 4 points from their opening 2 games. After being absent from the competition for 2 years Lille and coach Rene Girard are looking to make an impression in Europe but face a stern test from their Portuguese opposition.
Girard does have a practically full squad to select from with only midfielder Marvin Marin out for this game. New Liverpool striker Divick Origi, who has been loan back to Lille, is expected to start along with ex-Chelsea winger Soloman Kalou. Players like Simon Kjaer and Marko Basa will be called upon again in order to make sure Lille progress past the qualifiers. These are two defenders who were a major reason why Lille are here as they only conceded 26 goals last season so will be called upon again to keep the like of Jackson Martinez out.
Porto on the other hand are slightly more experienced at this level. Even if they haven’t quite reached the heights of what they did under Jose Mourinho, they are still a team more frequently associated with the competition. After finishing runners up to Champions Benfica, Porto enter this years competition at this round and are as of yet to start their domestic league. Having had a friendly tour in the UK manager Julien Lopetegui is missing two key players in the form of midfielder Juan Quintero and defender Alex Sandro. However, key players like Jackson Martinez and Maicon are likely to play along with new signings after Tello and Casemiro have been brought in on loan along with Martins Indi and Adrian permanently to replace Mangala and Fernando.
There has never been a competitive match between these two and with it being the first leg of a European tie it could be a cagey affair. Goals could be at a premium with two top quality defences so it could be up to star players like Jackson Martinez of Divock Origi to produce the goods on the night.