We’re back with the final international break of 2023 as we continue down the road to UEFA Euro 2024. It’s safe to say that things are really starting to heat up in pretty much every group as nations qualify and make their push to reach the playoffs. Today, we’ll be taking a look at what should be an intriguing battle between Liechtenstein and Portugal.
Liechtenstein Form GuideRight now, Liechtenstein are ranked 200th in the FIFA rankings, with just eight other nations on the planet being below them. If that didn’t make it obvious enough, this is a country that isn’t expected to do a whole lot on the international stage. They may get a slightly more positive result from time to time, but in the long run, they exist merely as warm bodies.
Last month, Liechtenstein actually put up a really solid fight against Bosnia for the second time in this group. Alas, they did ultimately fall to a 2-0 defeat, before going on to lose 4-0 against Iceland in a humbling loss just three days later.
Portugal Form GuidePortugal managed to shock a lot of people by becoming European champions back in 2016. Unfortunately, they haven’t quite been able to build on that. This is arguably the best golden generation they’ve had since Cristiano Ronaldo first rose to prominence two decades ago, and now is the chance to seize their opportunity, especially given their goalscoring prowess.
Portugal had to scratch and claw to edge their way past Slovakia last month as they were barely able to escape with a 3-2 win. They did, however, get things done in a far more convincing way just a few days later, rattling off a 5-0 victory over Bosnia.
Match PredictionThe only real question here is “how many will the visitors score”. Liechtenstein will park the bus, or at least that’s what they should attempt to do, but we don’t expect that it’s going to get them very far. In our view, the clear and obvious prediction is a Portugal victory.
