World Cup 2018 qualifying action in Group B continues this week, with European Champions Portugal taking on minnow the Faroe Islands. The Euro 2016 winners have been in fine form of late, with their opponents facing a monumental task on Thursday, as they bid to claim something from the game.
World Cup 2018 Qualifying – Estádio do Bessa, Boavista –Thursday 31st August – 19:45 UK Time
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Draw Best Odd of: 28 at Betfair |
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Portugal
Faroe IslandsMatch Preview: Portugal vs Faroe Islands
Despite having won five of their opening six encounters in Group B, Portugal still find themselves in second place, meaning that nothing but a win over the Faroe Islands is required. The Faroe Islands have just one win to their name during qualifying, with a trip to Portugal hardly inspiring confidence for one of Europe’s least successful teams.
Portugal Team News & Form
Having won Euro 2016, Portugal have picked up where they left off during their qualifying campaign, suffering just one defeat to date against group leaders Switzerland. With the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Bernardo Silva and Andre Silva available to manager Fernando Santos, it comes as little surprise that the home side are the overwhelming favourites to claim all three points.
Portugal comfortably saw off Latvia by three goals to nil last time around, with Santos’ men having scored an incredible 22 goals already from their six matches, conceding just three.
Faroe Islands Team News & Form
Despite not boasting any star names like their rivals do, the Faroe Islands have developed dramatically over recent years, demonstrating that they are no pushovers at this level. Despite losing to Switzerland last time around, Lars Olsen’s men have already won away in Latvia, as well as battling to draws with Hungary and Andorra. However, a 6-0 defeat to Portugal earlier in the year demonstrates the substantial difference between the two teams. With their players coming from the Danish, Icelandic and Faroe Island top divisions, they will have to be on the top of their game to even hold a hope of getting something from the game.
Head to Head
The meeting between the two teams back in October was just the second in history, with Portugal having won their previous meeting 5-0 in 2008, in what was an international friendly encounter. With an aggregate scoreline of 11-0 from their two meetings to date, this gives some indication of the likely outcome when the duo meets on Thursday evening.
Betting Odds and Predictions
With best odds of 1/66 on from bookmakers Ladbrokes for Portugal to claim all three points, customers looking to bet on this match are advised to look at other markets. The first such market is perhaps backing Portugal to win both the first and second half, which can be found at odds of 2/11 with the same bookmakers.
Elsewhere, betting on there being over 2.5 goals is almost a sure thing given the two previous meetings between the two teams, with William Hill offering odds of 1/6. Finally, backing Portugal to score a penalty during the 90 minutes could well be another market worth considering, with 10Bet offering odds of 16/5 for this.
Top Betting Tip
Despite these potentially lucrative markets, our top betting tip for this match is to back Portugal to score over 4.5 goals, which can be found at best odds of 5/4 at Ladbrokes.