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Nations League

Portugal v Switzerland betting preview, tip, team news, stat & TV channel

Fiery Swiss could frustrate favourites

Haris Seferovic (right) of Switzerland shoots against Northern Ireland
Haris Seferovic (right) of Switzerland shoots against Northern IrelandCredit: Alex Livesey

TV: Sky Sports Football/Main Event, 7.45pm Wednesday

The inaugural Nations League has been a breath of fresh air to the international calendar but the first semi-final at Estadio Do Dragao could be a tight, tactical affair which may require extra-time and penalties to settle the issue.

Hosts Portugal are odds-on favourites to dispatch Switzerland, who are just two steps away from winning their first major silverware.

However, they have had to settle for two unsatisfactory draws in European championship qualifying – 0-0 at home to Ukraine and 1-1 at home to Serbia – and may not find it easy to break down the stubborn Swiss, who finished above Belgium in Nations League Group Two.

Reaching the last four is a big achievement for the Swiss, who have never got beyond the quarter-finals at a World Cup or past the round of 16 at the European championships.

They got off to a mixed start in qualifying, winning 6-0 at home to Iceland and losing 2-1 away to Belgium.

After completing a double over Iceland, winning 2-1 in Reykjavik, the Swiss went into their last match at home to Belgium knowing they might need to win by two goals but were 2-0 down after just 17 minutes.

At that stage Switzerland needed four goals to leapfrog the Belgians but came up with five, including a hat-trick from centre-forward Haris Seferovic, to send Roberto Martinez's side crashing out of the competition.

It was a remarkable fightback from a team lacking top-class attacking talent although Seferovic's growing stature could give them an extra dimension this week.

The 27-year-old's club and international career has taken a long time to blossom but he topped the Portuguese scoring charts this season, netting 23 goals in 29 appearances for Benfica.

Seferovic is enjoying by far the best season of his career and that takes some of the pressure off Liverpool's Xherdan Shaqiri, who tops the Swiss squad's scoring charts with 22 goals in 80 matches.

However, there is no denying that Switzerland lack the star quality of the other Nations League finalists and will need to defend well to have a chance of success.

Cristiano Ronaldo leads the Portuguese challenge, having sat out Nations League qualifying.

He was fourth on the Serie A scoring charts with 21 goals in 31 appearances for Juventus but remains a man for the big occasion, as he showed when bagging a hat-trick to seal Juve's 3-2 aggregate victory over Atletico Madrid in the Champions League round of 16.

There is plenty of additional attacking talent, including Manchester City winger Bernardo Silva and Benfica's highly-rated 19-year-old striker Joao Felix.

But Andre Silva's absence with a knee injury is a blow because he would have been a strong contender to start alongside Ronaldo in Fernando Santos's preferred 4-4-2 formation.

The other problem for Portugal is Santos's preference to go with an industrious rather than creative midfield.

Wolves pair Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho have been regularly overlooked with Santos favouring the power and athleticism of William Carvalho and Danilo Pereira.

Santos's cautious approach contributed to Portugal's disappointing performance at the 2018 World Cup (a round-of-16 exit) and their slow start to European championship qualifying.

And his methods may not be best suited to overcoming the Swiss, who will be happy to see the contest go the full distance.

Recommendation
Draw
1pt 14-5 Betfred, Betway

Bet on this match at soccerbase.com

Team news

Portugal
Andre Silva (knee) was ruled out after missing the last two months of the La Liga season with Sevilla.

Switzerland
Stephan Lichtsteiner failed to make the squad after a lack of game time at Arsenal. His right back slot could go to Nico Elvedi or Kevin Mbabu.

Key stat
Portugal have drawn their last four matches.


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