Farioli expects Zaidu to be fit in time for Nottingham Forest v FC Porto | OneFootball

The FC Porto first team resumed training on Tuesday morning to prepare for the third matchday of the Europa League group stage, which will see them face Nottingham Forest at the City Ground in England.

In a training session that gave Italian coach Francesco Farioli reasons to smile, the club announced on its official platforms that Zaidu Sanusi has progressed to a regime of integrated but conditioned training, after returning from the Nigerian national team with a right calf injury.

The left-back, who helped the Super Eagles secure a spot in the African playoffs for the 2026 World Cup by taking part in the victories over Lesotho and Benin (4-0 and 1-2), was absent from the blue and white rout of Celoricense (0-4) in the third round of the Portuguese Cup, but is getting closer to rejoining the squad list.

On the other hand, Nehuén Pérez (recovering from surgery after a complete rupture of the Achilles tendon) and Luuk de Jong (recovering from a sprain to the left knee with internal lateral ligament injury) were limited to treatment and gym work, so they are not expected to be available.

On the opposing side, the main concern appears to be Ola Aina, who is still recovering from thigh surgery and has been out of action for over a month.

Schedule and FC Porto’s situation in the Europa League

FC Porto will train again at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday at the Jorge Costa Training Center in Olival, with the first 15 minutes open to the media. At 7:30 p.m., Francesco Farioli and a player will hold a press conference already on English soil.

The clash with Nottingham Forest kicks off at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday and will be refereed by Romanian Radu Petrescu, supported by assistants Radu Ghinguleac and Ionut Neacsu, fourth official Andrei Chivulete, VAR Catalin Popa, and AVAR Pol van Boekel (the only one of Dutch nationality).

The Dragons are currently among the group leaders in the Europa League group stage, with six points from a possible six—just like Sporting de Braga, Dinamo Zagreb, Midtjylland, Aston Villa, Olympique Lyon, and Lille—thanks to victories over Salzburg (0-1) and Red Star Belgrade (2-1).

The ‘Reds’, who will debut new coach Sean Dyche following the departure of Ange Postecoglou, have only one point in the competition, the result of a 2-2 draw with Real Betis and a 2-0 defeat to Midtjylland, sharing 25th place with Red Star Belgrade, Bologna, PAOK, Celtic, and Maccabi Tel Aviv.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.