UEFA Nations League: Portugal vs. Czech Republic Preview, Odds, Prediction

Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal host Czech Republic in the UEFA Nations League round 3 at Estadio Jose Alvalade on Thursday night. The two sides currently occupy the top spot in Group 2 of this competition, and they have high hopes for the upcoming games. While Portugal trashed Switzerland in the previous event, the Czechs played 2-2 against Spain, putting up a very good show and being pretty competitive versus one of the best teams in Europe.

Preview

Portugal (-200) took one point in Spain before rolling over Switzerland a few days ago at home, 4-0. Cristiano came home to Sporting’s stadium, where he slashed the Swiss team with two blitz goals in the opening half. United’s striker was near a hat-trick, but his third hit was disallowed because of an offside.

Selecao has four games without a loss in a row. The first two were in the playoffs for the World Cup, against Turkey and North Macedonia, 3-1 and 2-0 respectively, while the latest two were a draw in Spain 1-1, and this one against Switzerland, both in the UEFA Nations League.

In the past five events, four were with over 2.5 scores. If we analyze only the home games for the Portuguese side, we will see that they have six wins and only one loss in the past seven, scoring at least twice in all those six triumphs.

Czech Republic (+650) plays very interesting and fluid football. The Czechs like to attack and are very adjustable to any rival, which gives often brings lots of goals in their clashes. The defense isn’t very strong, but it compensates for all the weaknesses with a big contribution upfront.

They didn’t score only once in the last nine events, and that was in the World Cup playoffs finals against Sweden. Unfortunately for this unit, they would lose that event, and fell short in their intentions of reaching Qatar.

Though Jaroslav Šilhavý’s unit performs much worse on the road than at home, the previous four outings since the end of the EURO, saw them winning only once. Two games ended with losses and one with a draw.

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Some sources suggest that Pepe might take a rest in this one. Ronaldo is certain upfront, as well as Diogo Jota.

On the other side, Jaroslav Zeleny is out due to an injury against Spain, and we also might not see Jakub Jankto.

Head to Head Games

These three teams had met twice in this century, both times at the EURO championships. In 2008, Portugal won 1-3, while in the 2012 quarterfinals, the result was 0-1 for Selecao. Ronaldo scored a goal on both occasions.

Prediction

This is a clear win for the hosts here. They are looking superb at the moment, much better than the Czechs. Despite their solid recent performances, we believe that the guests have nothing to hope for against Selecao, who has been on the rise in the last few games. The odds for the host’s victory are at -205, and for us, that is a solid value having in mind the amount of risk. For those who would love some prop bet, go with Ronaldo scoring.

Pick: Portugal -205

Here is the preview for the UNL game Switzerland vs. Spain.