Portugal vs Slovakia Prediction and Betting Tips

Portugal vs Slovakia Prediction and Betting Tips | October 13th 2023

Modified Oct 11, 2023 13:23 GMT

Portugal and Slovakia will meet in the UEFA Euro qualifiers on Friday

Portugal will invite Slovakia to the Estádio do Dragão in the group stage of the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers on Friday.

The hosts have a perfect record in the qualifiers, winning six games in a row without conceding a goal. In their previous outing, they recorded their biggest-ever win in a competitive game, defeating Luxembourg 9-0 at home. Gonçalo Ramos and Gonçalo Inácio bagged first-half braces while Diogo Jota scored twice in the second half in 20 minutes.

The visitors have recorded four wins in their six games in the qualifying campaign and are in second place in the Group J table, trailing the hosts by five points. After suffering their first defeat of the campaign to Portugal at home last month, they bounced back to winning ways with a 3-0 home triumph over Liechtenstein last time around.

Dávid Hancko, Ondrej Duda, and Robert Mak scored within six minutes from the kickoff to secure the win. The hosts will be guaranteed a place in the main event if they can record a win in this match.

A defeat for the visitors, on the other hand, will make things a little tricky for the visitors as third-placed Luxembourg are just three points behind them.

Portugal vs Slovakia Head-to-Head and Key Numbers

The two teams have met five times in all competitions thus far, with all meetings taking place across different editions of the FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship qualifiers. As expected, the hosts have dominated proceedings against their eastern rivals with an unbeaten record.
They have won four of the five meetings and, in their previous meeting in September, they recorded a 1-0 away win thanks to Bruno Fernandes' first-half strike.
Portugal have the best attacking record in the qualifiers, scoring 24 goals in six games, with 16 of them coming in three home games.
Slovakia have won both of their away games in the qualifying campaign thus far, scoring thrice while conceding once.

Portugal vs Slovakia Prediction

A Seleção head into the match in great form, winning six games in a row without conceding. They have a 100% record at home against the visitors and are strong favorites. Roberto Martínez has called up a strong squad for the two qualifiers this month which is brimming with attacking talent, and we back them to enjoy another prolific outing.

Raphael Guerreiro and Ricardo Horta were let go from the training camp with muscle injuries and Martinez has not called up any replacements. The hosts have all 24 remaining players available for selection.

Sokoli have suffered just one defeat in their last seven away games in all competitions, recording five wins. They have kept four clean sheets in that period as well. Interestingly, they have scored just once in their five meetings against the hosts, which is a cause for concern.

They have conceded just twice in six games thus far and will look to build on their defensive prowess in this match. Apart from Lukáš Haraslín, head coach Francesco Calzona has a full-strength squad at his disposal, so he should be able to field a strong starting XI.

Nonetheless, considering the current form of the two teams and home advantage for Cristiano Ronaldo's team, we expect the hosts to record a comfortable win and the odds of a clean sheet also look good.

Prediction: Portugal 3-0 Slovakia