Portugal v Hungary Betting Tips: European champions to come out on top

These two sides really need a victory on Saturday if they want to have a realistic chance of qualifying for the World Cup next year as Switzerland currently top the group by a comfortable distance.

Surprise Euro 2016 winners Portugal are in great danger of missing out on the World Cup next year as they lost a vitally important match to rivals Switzerland early on in the qualification process.

In terms of the other matches though, the Portuguese have been spot on at both ends of the pitch with 16 goals scored – by far the best record in the group – and just three conceded. However, it is worth noting that they did concede at home to relative minnows Latvia last time out so perhaps there could be a slight issue there, not to mention the two they let in against the Swiss on match-day one.

Manager Fernando Santos has gone with a tried and tested squad with only the injured Adrien Silva and Nani missing from the group who have contested each of the qualifiers so far.

Selecao have been fantastic at home and have scored 15 goals in their last three matches on home soil (including friendlies) and conceding just once, albeit against Latvia. The Portuguese do have a good record at home in qualification overall with just one defeat suffered in European Championship qualification since October 1998 and just one World Cup qualification defeat since February 1993.

Hungary came out of Euro 2016 last summer with a lot of credit in the way they approached games in a fearless fashion. They have approached these qualifiers in a similar fashion and have been rewarded with two wins in their last two matches. However, they are still five points off Switzerland in top spot.

As mentioned previously, the Magyars have kept to their ways and have scored a fair number of goals in qualifying and average two per game. Defensively, the Hungarians have actually been pretty good with three clean sheets in four matches. Having said that, these came against the smaller nations in the group and, against the bigger side Switzerland, they let in three.

Bernd Storck has gone with a blend of youth and experience in this squad with the likes of Zolta Gera on 96 caps included alongside four uncapped players. Hungary have been pretty good on their travels in this qualification campaign with no defeats and no goals conceded. They were also excellent on their travels in their European Championship qualification campaign with just one defeat in their six matches.

In reality, Portugal should get the job here given their superior quality, but Hungary’s gung-ho approach could reward them with a goal against a Portugal defence which can sometimes switch off. When these met last summer there was goals for both teams in what was something of a thriller. The bet to go for here is ‘Portugal to Win & Both Teams to Score’ at 11/4.

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