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Portugal will get their UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying campaign underway with a home game at the Estádio José Alvalade against Liechtenstein on Thursday.
The hosts have qualified for the last seven editions of the tournament and were eliminated from the round of 16 last time around. Liechtenstein, on the other hand, have failed to qualify for the main event in their seven attempts.
Portugal will be playing their first game since their 1-0 defeat in the quarter-finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup against Morocco. Liechtenstein will be playing their first competitive game since September, though they played a friendly in November, suffering a 2-0 defeat against Gibraltar.
Liechtenstein endured a winless run in the 2020 qualifiers and finished sixth in the Group J standings. Portugal recorded five wins, finishing second in Group B.
Portugal vs Liechtenstein Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- The two teams have met seven times in all competitions with four meetings taking place in the qualifying campaign of the UEFA European Championship. Portugal have enjoyed an unbeaten run against their eastern rivals, winning six games.
- The hosts have kept five clean sheets against the visitors and recorded a 3-0 win when they last met in a friendly in 2009.
- Portugal have scored 35 goals against the visitors, though only seven of them have come in three games in the 21st century.
- The hosts have kept just one clean sheet in their last three meetings against Liechtenstein after keeping consecutive clean sheets in their first four meetings.
- The visitors are winless in all competitions since 2020, suffering 22 defeats in their 25 games since. They have also failed to score in 12 of their last 13 games in all competitions.
- Portugal have won four of their last six games, scoring at least two goals in five of these games.
Portugal vs Liechtenstein Prediction
Roberto Martínez will be taking charge of Portugal for the first time since his appointment as head coach in January. He has named a strong squad for the qualifiers, which includes Cristiano Ronaldo. Pepe has been ruled out on account of an injury and will not be able to start in the first two matches. Nonetheless, A Seleção have enough depth to make up for the veteran defender's absence.
Liechtenstein have never recorded a win against the hosts and have picked up just five wins in their seven Euro qualifying campaigns. With that in mind, we expect their struggles to continue in this match.
We expect the 2016 champions to kick off their qualifying campaign with a win and the odds of a clean sheet also look good.
Prediction: Portugal 2-0 Liechtenstein
Portugal vs Liechtenstein Betting Tips
Tip 1: Result - Portugal
Tip 2: Goals - Over/Under 2.5 Goals - Under 2.5
Tip 3: At least a goal to be scored in the second half - Yes
Tip 4: Gonçalo Ramos to score or assist any time - Yes
