Portugal v North Macedonia predictions: Visitors unlikely to cause another upset

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Portugal v North Macedonia in the European World Cup 2022 playoffs.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Action, 7.45pm Tuesday

Best bet

Portugal to win & both teams to score
1pt 11-4 BoyleSports

Team news

Portugal
Pepe is back after missing the semi-final win over Turkey due to Covid, while Joao Cancelo is available after suspension.

North Macedonia
Midfield duo Elif Elmas and Tihomir Kostadinov should be back in action.

Match preview

North Macedonia stunned Euro 2020 winners Italy on Thursday night but repeating the trick against Portugal in Porto could prove a bridge too far.

An injury-time strike from reliable midfielder Aleksandar Trajkovski was enough to ensure the Azzurri won't be adding the World Cup to the Henri Delaunay Trophy later this year but the European champions did dominate proceedings, registering 32 shots, and a more clinical side would be taking on Portugal for a place in Qatar.

Fortunately for the hosts, who put three goals past Turkey in their playoff semi-final, they have the attacking jewels in Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva and Diogo Jota to get the job done.

But to squeeze more value from a home win, punters should back Portugal to win and both teams to score.

North Macedonia, knowing they have already defied expectations to reach this stage, can approach this match as a free hit and they do have goals in them.

They scored against all five of their World Cup qualifying group stage opponents at least once - they beat Germany in 2021 - and they managed to notch against both Austria and Ukraine at Euro 2020.

And although Portugal are a fairly conservative side under Fernando Santos, they are not impenetrable and have shipped in each of their last two matches against Turkey and Serbia.

The Euro 2016 winners are long odds-on to book their place in Qatar but North Macedonia can cause the Portuguese a few problems before bowing out in Porto.

Key stat

North Macedonia scored 23 goals in ten matches in the group stage of World Cup qualifying.

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