Inter Milan vs. Porto Betting Tips: Pepe set for a wrestling match at the San Siro

The Champions League round of 16 continues on Wednesday evening with Inter taking on Porto at the San Siro. As usual we’ve provided you with two tips for the game, both of which come from the increasingly popular player fouls market.

Simone Inzaghi’s Inter side have been much improved since the turn of the year after finishing second in their Champions League group which included Bayern, Barcelona and Viktoria Plzen. Inter currently sit second in Serie A behind runaway leaders Napoli and have won 11 of their last 12 matches on home soil in all competitions. 

Porto are also in good form domestically, unbeaten in 11 and having won six on the bounce in the Primeira Liga. Sergio Conceicao’s men impressed in the group stage finishing with 12 points at the top of Group B and will be hoping for a repeat of when they overcame another Italian giant in Juventus at this stage of the tournament back in 2021. 

Inter look a little short in the match result market in our opinion at 7/10. The draw is available at 13/5, while Porto can be sided with at 17/4 or bigger with most betting sites.  

Only seven players have been shown more yellow cards in the history of the Champions League than Portuguese centre-back Pepe, who should start the game for Porto on Wednesday. 

If Sergio Conceicao has his way this game will be a real dog fight and a bit of a scrap. A player who loves a bit of a wrestling match, Pepe could well be at the centre of the controversy, and with Lautaro Martinez (Inter’s most fouled player) and Romelu Lukaku to deal with, he’s sure to have his hands full.

At just under even money at 23/25 with Unibet and BetUK, Pepe to commit Over 0.5 fouls looks a strong price for someone with a colorful disciplinary history in this competition. It’s worth noting here that a pair of Pepe’s could line up for Porto, so make sure to select the Portuguese (Ferreira Kepler Pepe), rather than the Brazilian (Aquino Gabriel Pepe). This may also be a reason for the slightly bigger price than expected with other firms such as Paddy Power going 4/9 about the same selection,

With a scrappy game expected we’ve also picked out a trio of other players to give away one foul or more. The first of those is Joao Mario of Porto who is averaging 1.49 fouls per 90 minutes in the Portuguese top-flight this term. The right-back has committed 1+ foul in six of his last seven matches and has committed 2+ in three of his last four.

Next up it’s Milan Skriniar who ranks first for Inter when it comes to fouls conceded this season, with only four players in Serie A having given away more. The Slovakian defender has committed eight fouls across his last four starts for Inter and looks a good prospect to continue his streak on Wednesday. 

Rounding off the trio is Canadian Stephen Eustaquio who is another who should benefit from Porto’s injury crisis with a place in the starting XI. The attacking midfielder has committed 3+ fouls in four of his ten league starts this season and including him in this treble takes us up to 14/5 with Unibet. Compare this to the odds-on price of 4/5 for the same bet on Betfair and you can see why we feel this is a nice bit of value.