It is Match Day number 4 as Portugal and Iceland clash in the second game in Group F. Portugal can be a strong contender to win the Uefa Euro 2016 and they will hope to start their campaign by grabbing all 3 points against Iceland. The Match will take place at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium in Saint-Étienne, France. As we still have a few hours before the Kick-Off, here is a glimpse of what one might expect from both these teams with Match Prediction and Head to Head comparison.
Portugal:
Having reached the finals of this European Championship on 4 occasions, Portugal will want to go all the way this time and they certainly have the firepower to do so. Portugal has had mixed results in their warm-up games, losing to England (1-0) and winning handsomely against Estonia (7-0). With a few tweaks to the midfield, Portugal can find themselves in a dominating position as their attacking players are potent, to say the least.
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Formation:
If the rumours are to be believed, Manager Fernando Santos will scrape the 4-3-3 formation that the country has favoured in the past, and switch to a more adjustable 4-4-2 Diamond formation. In that case, Cristiano Ronaldo will most likely be accompanied by Ricardo Quaresma to lead the attack from the front for the Selecao, if the latter is fit.
Iceland:
A team that relies heavily on their midfield players, it is good news for Iceland that Aron Gunnarsson and Gylfi Sigurdsson have been exceptional and their performances will be crucial against a tough Portuguese line-up. Iceland has performed reasonably well in their friendlies, beating Liechtenstein (4-0) and losing in a thriller to Norway (2-3). The one area where Manager Lars Lagerbäck will consider making improvements will be the position of striker as Kolbeinn Sigthorsson as he has been below par during an injury-riddled season with Nantes.
Formation:
The Swedish Manager has also preferred to go with the 4-4-2 diamond formation that has assisted them throughout the qualifying stages for this year’s European Championship. This formation gives them a balance between attack and defence and has brought them a considerable amount of success.
Head to Head:
It has been quite a while since both these teams faced off against each other. Meeting just 2 times in – 2010 and 2011 – Portugal emerged victorious on both those occasions, beating Iceland handily. On the first occasion in 2010, Portugal put 3 goals past the Iceland defense and finished the game 3-1 with Cristiano Ronaldo, Raul Meireles, and Helder Postiga scoring for Portugal with Heidar Helguson the lone scorer for Iceland in that game. In 2011, these teams were involved in an exciting goal fest with Portugal putting 5 past Iceland conceding 3 goals in the process.
Match Prediction:
While a lot has changed since these 2 teams locked horns against each other, Portugal will be considered favourites as they have superior players when compared to Iceland. 1-0 win for Portugal will be the expected result but take nothing away from Iceland to put up a strong defence and surprise the Portuguese.
