Tottenham versus Manchester City
This all-Premier League tie should be seen out of the context of the Champions League. So far this season it’s Mauricho Pochettino – Pep Guardiola 0-3 in matches, but this is the match where Tottenham can steal the biggest of all prizes right under the nose of the competition. And they will know it. The home game should be where Tottenham has to break the win streak of ten of Manchester City. If they don’t deliver this game, the away game is gonna be nearly impossible.
Defeating Dortmund with a 4-0 aggregate victory, having Harry Kane back from injury and playing in an overcrowded state of the art stadium will ensure the Spurs are more pertinaciously than ever to win against Manchester City.
Not that Manchester City will roll over and let that happen. This club is breaking all records and it can be considered a miracle that Spurs can keep up with this oiled football machine. City has their own goal: the quadruple. Even though Guardiola is tempering expectations as always, he is probably dreaming about it. And why wouldn’t you with their track record?
Liverpool versus Porto
Liverpool fans will have pleasant memories about the last edition of this tie. The reds overrun Porto in Dragão after a goalless draw at Anfield. This year Porto will be warned and prepared for avoiding a repetition of this scenario. The question is if they can though. Jürgen Klopp’s squad is once of the most feared in Europe, and for good reason. Who wants to defend against Salah and Sane? Who wants to try and trick van Dijk?
Porto does have a sturdier team than that of last year and they have proven to be very effective in the group stage with 19 goals in 8 matches. Though the group they were in was considered as relatively easy with the likes of Galatasaray, Lokomotiv Moscow and Schalke. Nevertheless, coach Sergio Conceição proves that he can do outstanding work with a team that has its limits as well as some great players such as Alex Telles, Éder Militão and Danilo.
Liverpool has its hands full on winning the Premier League as well as the Champions League. Since it has been so long that Liverpool has been the national champion, it is unlikely that they will hold back anything in any game. It could eventually cost them, but we think the quarterfinals is not yet the stage. We predict Liverpool will emerge on top after the two games are played.
