Portugal Takes on Reeling Hungary in World Cup Qualifiers
Published September 3, 2017 by Florin P
Portugal travels to Hungary determined to hand the hosts the fifth consecutive defeat (7:45 p.m UK Time).
Portugal has beaten the odds and won the Euro 2016 at the expense of France, but a new challenge looms large at the horizon. It needs to qualify for the World Cup which takes place in Russia and in order to book a seat, it needs victory over Hungary. The visitors already have a significant advantage over the pack, but they can’t afford to finish in the second place and go through a tiresome playoffs round.
Adding Misery to Hungary's Losing Streak
The Portuguese players are fit to play and many of them were rested ahead of this fixture, so there are no injury concerns. As always, Cristiano Ronaldo is the player that everyone looks forward to and it seems that his injury is on the mend. Even without their prolific goalscorer, the visitors should be more than a match for the home side who is writing a lengthy losing streak.
Hungary is in terrible form and has lost four games in a row without scoring a single goal. This means that they will have a harder time scoring against Portugal which has extraordinary discipline and players capable of successfully defended for 90 minutes. Even though Hungary has home pitch advantage, it will be the visiting side that will exercise constant pressure from the first minute and until the last.
Portugal Has the Edge in Head to Head Matches
Over the course of time, the two teams have met on several occasions and except for one game, all were comfortably won by the Portuguese outfit. The high-scoring draw recorded in 2016 is the odd exception, but the home side has insignificant chances of scoring as many goals. Their backline is struggling to contain even mediocre strikers and once opponents take the lead, Hungary rarely recovers.
Portugal is not surprisingly big favorite to win the match and the visitors will play accordingly. Expect them to come out firing from the first minute and it’s very likely that they will take the lead before half time. bet365 Sports enables players to bet in real-time, but in order to lock in on top odds, they should back the visitors before the match starts.
