Arsenal’s players should have a confident swing in their step following the continuation of their red-hot form at the weekend, and their impressive 5-0 demolition job on Burnley was their second wide-margin victory on the spin following another thumping 6-0 win at West Ham.

In both victories, Mikel Arteta deployed a front three of Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka and Leonardo Trossard to devastating effect, and with that trio combining intelligent movement with unselfish passing, Arsenal’s effectiveness in the final third has gone up a gear.

Porto could struggle to cope with Arsenal’s fearsome frontline in Wednesday’s first leg and it’s interesting to note that the Portuguese side lost both meetings with Barcelona in the Champions League group stage, which indicates they could run into trouble against another high calibre outfit.

Indeed, Porto have found English clubs too hot to handle in recent European campaigns and since 2017, they’ve lost seven Champions League fixtures out of ten against Premier League opponents.

With Arsenal playing some of their best football of the campaign and Porto’s poor record against English clubs also a major factor, backing the Gunners to win on Wednesday is the logical play, while backing Arsenal to score two or more should also be considered.

Arsenal have generated an xG of at least 3 in each of their last five assignments and they should enjoy exploiting the generously spacious pitch at the Estádio Do Dragão.

Arsenal’s rampant-looking frontline looks ripe when it comes to picking out some shots market options with Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard, in particular, looking like excellent candidates to deliver.

22-year-old Saka has been fizzing with productivity on the right flank for the Gunners and the winger has hit at least one shot on target in 12 of his last 14 appearances. Both Saka and Leandro Trossard are worth backing to produce at least one accurate shot each in Portugal.

Belgian international Trossard has made himself virtually undroppable of late and the 29-year-old has mustered 15 attempts in his last five appearances combined, hitting the mark with at least one strike in four of those five runouts.

Centre half Gabriel Magalhaes meanwhile, could offer a more niche angle in the standard shots market. The Brazilian is brilliant at making first contact from set plays and the 26-year-old has managed to lodge an effort in four of his last five starts for Arsenal.

Wide attacker Galeno looks the likeliest Porto star to inflict some damage. The clever 26-year-old has been averaging 2.60 shots per game in the Champions League this season and up against the unconvincing defender of Ben White, Galeno could get a couple of shots away again.

Arsenal didn’t win buckets of corners in the group stage of the Champions League, however, the Gunners did routinely outdo their opponents in the competition’s first phase, losing the corner count in just one of their six matches in Group B.

That solitary set-piece misstep, which came on matchday six in a dead rubber with a shuffled team against PSV in Eindhoven, can be dismissed easily enough as a one-off, and Arsenal should enjoy enough possession in the final third to win more corners than their continental opponents again on Wednesday.

Porto averaged just 3.30 corners per game across their own six-match group stage campaign and they lost the corner battle in 50% of their Group H fixtures overall. Porto could be forced to cede ground against a possession-hungry Arsenal side this week, so they could fall short in the same area again.

Only five teams have bested Arsenal’s 56.5% possession per away game average in the Champions League so far and the Gunners won at least four corners in five of their six group contests before Christmas.

With several trends to go on, backing Arsenal to top the corner count and to win over 3.5 corners both appeal, with the latter a modest target to conquer for the in-form Londoners.

Porto’s more defensive players could have their work cut out to keep Arsenal’s flying forwards under wraps in Portugal, and several of the hosts’ combatants could rack up fouls in their attempts to disrupt the Gunners’ rhythm.

First up, we look to left back, where Jorge Sanchez is expected to swap flanks to replace the injured Zaidu Sanusi. Right footer Sanchez should be more than a little uncomfortable on the opposite side of the pitch, where the serially-fouled Bukayo Saka will be waiting to torment him.

Sanchez has started just five times for Porto in all competitions this season, so expect ring rust and mistimed challenges if he features. The 26-year-old Mexican looks like a viable candidate to commit 2+ fouls.

Elsewhere, hard-hitting Argentinean anchorman Alan Varela deserves attention in the 1+ fouls stakes. The 22-year-old committed at least one foul in four of his six appearances in the Champions League group stage, and with tackling a major part of his remit, the potential for Varela to deliver in the same market is high again.

Varela’s fellow midfielder Pepe Aquino represents the best option in terms of price. The 26-year-old’s smart passing and technical nous usually catches the eye, however, the Brazilian is also a consistent fouler and he sinned at least once in all but one of his five run-outs in the Champions League group phase.

Aquino’s defensive workload should be hefty against Arsenal and a target of one foul seems reasonable again for the 26-year-old.