On Saturday, at 19:45, Portugal and France will play the most interesting match of the evening in the UEFA League of Nations, in group A-3. The match counts for the 5th stage of the group and will be played at the Estadio Da Luz in Lisbon, between the best teams of the series. That’s why we expected a very good match.
Portugal and France are leading hostilities in Group A-3, where they are level on points. The Lusitanians have 3 victories and a draw, just like Deschamps’ “roosters”, but they have priority due to the goal difference. Ronaldo and Joao Felix’s team has a 9-1 goal difference, compared to a 7-3 against the world champion. The guests come after a really shocking result! That’s right, and slightly undeserved…
In a friendly played in the middle of the week, France lost at home to Finland, score 0-2, after the goals of Forss (’28) and Valakari (’31). In vain did Deschamps put “heavy artillery” in the second half, because France scored only on statistics: possession 68%, 23 shots on goal, 9 corners and 8 blocked shots. Finland managed to leave Paris victorious with only two shots on goal and 9 fouls throughout the match! Before this match, France had won with Croatia (2-1 and 4-2) and Ukraine (7-1) and drew with Portugal.
Now we see the rematch on the field of Benfica, and the Portuguese have an excellent morale after the last games. They played well with Sweden (2-0 and 3-0) and Andorra (7-0), also drawing 0-0 with Spain and France. Therefore, Fernando Santos’ team has a long series of matches without a goal, being also a performance in attack thanks to Paulinho, Neto, Ronaldo, Sanches and Felix. France hopes to make a difference through Griezmann, Martial, Giroud and Mbappe, the stars of the “roosters”. What players will be on the field!
The two representatives also met in the Euro 2016 final, when the Lusitanians surprisingly won the trophy, after a goal scored in overtime. Thus, in 4 of the last 5 direct duels, less than 1.5 goals were scored, and the odds for such a scenario is huge on esfuna.ro! The stakes of winning the group are important, however, and this time we expect a slightly more open game, in which the individual quality of the two camps should guarantee the show. At Fortuna there are excellent odds on goals in this match, but you also have a 15% bonus on any ticket played online.
Portugal: Patricio; Cancelo, Dias, Fonte, Guerrero; Pereira, Carvalho, Fernandes; Silva, Felix, Ronaldo
Coach: Fernando Santos
France: Lloris; Dubois, Varane, Lenglet, Hernandez; Kante, Pogba, Tolisso; Griezmann; Martial, Mbappe
Coach: Didier Deschamps
Portugal has a 12-0 goal difference in the last five matches played;
The Lusitanians have 6 victories and two draws in the last 8 matches played;
Portugal lost only one match in the last 22, a 1-2 in Ukraine;
At least two goals have been scored in 5 of France’s last 8 matches;
France have not lost so far in 90 minutes, against Portugal, in 8 games;
4 of the 8 direct duels so far ended in a draw, 0-0 or 1-1;
PREDICTION: Both teams to score / NO @ 1,87
