How can I compare two lists in python and return matches

One more way to find common values:

a = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
b = [9, 8, 7, 6, 5]
matches = [i for i in a if i in b]

you can | for set union and & for set intersection.
for example:

    set1={1,2,3}
    set2={3,4,5}
    print(set1&set2)
    output=3

    set1={1,2,3}
    set2={3,4,5}
    print(set1|set2)
    output=1,2,3,4,5

curly braces in the answer.

I just used the following and it worked for me:

group1 = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
group2 = [9, 8, 7, 6, 5]

for k in group1:
    for v in group2:
        if k == v:
            print(k)

this would then print 5 in your case. Probably not great performance wise though.

This is for someone who might what to return a certain string or output, here is the code, hope it helps:

lis =[]
#convert to list
a = list(data)
b = list(data)
def make_list():
    c = "greater than"
    d = "less_than"
    e = "equal"
    for first, first_te in zip(a, b):
        if first < first_te:
            lis.append(d)
        elif first > first_te:
            lis.append(c)
        else:
            lis.append(e)
    return lis

make_list()