Portugal vs Tunisia
International Friendlies
Date: Monday, 28 May 2018
Kick-Off at 19:45 UK / 20:45 CET
Venue: Estadio Municipal de Braga.
Portugal will begin their World Cup preparations on Monday evening when they play host to another side that qualified for the big stage competition Tunisia at Estadio Municipal de Braga. The head coach Fernando Santos made some shocking changes to the squad that shockingly won EURO 2016 in France, but one can still just not underestimate A Selecao das Quinas in Russia.
Santos will have the chance to see how the side looks without the star man Cristiano Ronaldo in the ranks. Real Madrid’s winger featured the Champions League final on Saturday and he will definitely skip the friendly with the African outfit just two days later.
The visitors will thus get the chance to maintain the superb defensive form and keep things tight at the back against the brand new Portuguese attacking line with Milan’s Andre Silva as the lone traditional center-forward.
Portugal Team News
Cristiano Ronaldo is unlikely to play a part in this game due to his commitment with Real Madrid in the Champions League final at Kiev against Liverpool on Saturday.
The likes of Nani, Eder and André Gomes are omitted from the final 23-men squad and most of the responsibilities lie in the shoulders of veteran Ricardo Quaresma.
Portugal Predicted Line-up (4-4-2)
Lopes – Guerreiro, Pepe, Dias, Soares – Silva, Moutinho, Manuel Fernandes, Joao Mario – Quaresma, Andre Silva.
Tunisia Team News
The head-coach Nabil Maaloul is yet to finalize his final squad for the World Cup, therefore he could use this as a final chance to take a look at certain players.
Wahbi Khazri is the one to watch here, who is coming on the back of an excellent season with Rennes in French Ligue 1.
It must be worth to note that Youssef Msakni, who scored 3 goals from 4 qualifying matches and 25 goals for this club side Al-Duhail is out with an injury and is not a part of the preliminary squad.
Tunisia Predicted Starting Line-up (4-4-2)
Mathlouthi – Ali Maaloul, Ben Youssef, Meriah, Nagguez – Ellyes Skhiri, Ben Amor, Naim Sliti, Saber Khalifa – Wahbi Khazri, Ahmed Akaichi.
Portugal vs Tunisia: Head-to-head
Tunisia held Portugal to a 1-1 draw in the lone previous head to head encounter which took place 16 years ago in the capital of Lisbon.
Portugal vs Tunisia: Prediction
Portugal will be looking to raise the spirits after an underwhelming showing in a catastrophic 0-3 loss to Netherlands back in March. The loss is even more painful if we know that Cristiano Ronaldo featured the match form the get go.
The hosts might struggle to create up front here knowing they will be up against a well-organized defensive line of Tunisia’s here. The Eagles of Carthage showed strength by edging past fellow WC participants Iran and Costa Rica without conceding a single goal in the process back in March. They won six and drew two of eight games en route to booking tickets for Russia in the African World Cup Qualifying campaign.
Based on everything written above, Tunisia not to lose by two or more goals is definitely the best of the betting options and it can be backed at the odds of 1.70. You can have Portugal not to score two or more goals at 2.20.
Portugal vs Tunisia: Bet Tips
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Tunisia +1.5 handicap @ 1.70
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Portugal – Under 1.5 Team Goals @ 2.20.
