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Latvia vs Portugal Prediction & Betting tips
In Group B of the World Cup qualifiers, Latvia and Portugal compete on Friday. Latvia has little to say in the poule dominated by Switzerland and Portugal. The Portuguese should not make a mistake here to keep links with Switzerland. Can Ronaldo and co. Get the three points?
Latvia :
It is no surprise that Latvia is not a competitor for the top positions of Pole B. The teams knew so far three points and against the even smaller football field of Andorra. The fact that Latvia lost from the Faroe Islands indicates how bad it was with the Latvian national team. However, Latvia in the first duel knew Portugal to make it harder than thought. Latvia was at the same level in the middle of the second half. Portugal got back quickly and still won 4-1.
The majority of Latvian internationals come from small to medium-sized East-Bloc clubs. Artoms Rudnevs plays on paper at the biggest club of name. The attacker of 1. FC Köln only came to eighteen matches this year, of which 12 were invaded. Because Latvia has not played any practice games, Friday is the first match of the new coach Aleksandrs Starkovs. After the heavy training league in March, then federal coach Marians Pahars resigned.
Portugal :
Qualification series of the Portuguese national team are often difficult. Portugal usually scores little and can sometimes have the biggest difficulty with ‘small’ countries. This qualification is not the case. Portugal has already achieved a goal balance of +16 after five games and that while losing it with Switzerland, it lost 2-0. The Swiss competitor won all matches and Portugal can not afford a point loss. As long as they hold the pressure on Switzerland, they can come to Switzerland if they are in the final round of play, claiming group profits.
Portugal played a training match against Cyprus on Saturday. Cristiano Ronaldo was logically lacking because of the Champions League final played later in the day, but Portugal still managed to win convincingly. João Moutinho laid the foundation for the victory by scoring both 1-0 and 2-0 via a free kick. In the second half, Pizzi and André Silva made a 4-0 finish. Coach Fernando Santos is still not busy with the Confederations Cup. “At the moment, the Conferederations does not matter,” said the trainer, who has to miss Quaresma and Pepe because of an injury.
Probable setup Portugal
Patricio; Soares, Neto, Fonte, Guerreiro; Moutinho, Carvalho, Gomes, Mario; Silva, Ronaldo
Latvia vs Portugal head to head matches
13.11.16 WC Portugal Latvia 4 : 1
12.10.05 WC Portugal Latvia 3 : 0
04.09.04 WC Latvia Portugal 0 : 2
02.06.95 EUR Portugal Latvia 3 : 2
09.10.94 EUR Latvia Portugal 1 : 3