Portugal are looking to maintain their 100% record as they host Luxembourg in Group J of the European Championship qualifiers. The former European champions put six past the visitors in the reverse fixture and look set for another comfortable victory on Monday.
Portugal claimed the upper hand in the top of the table clash last time out in the qualifiers as they picked up a 1-0 win in Slovakia. It was not as smooth as their previous fixtures with Bruno Fernandes’ effort just before the break proving the difference.
It has been a perfect qualifying campaign for Portugal so far as they have won all five of their matches in Group J. Roberto Martinez's men have also been mostly untroubled at the back and are yet to concede a single goal.
With confidence in their defensive solidity, Portugal have been free to flex their attacking muscles. They have scored 15 goals in Group J with a 4-0 victory over Liechtenstein and a 6-0 triumph in Luxembourg among their results.
Luxembourg have been the surprise team in Group J as they are currently second on the standings with 10 points, five behind the Portugal. They have only lost once in the qualifiers and are third on the standings, level on 10 points with Slovakia but above Iceland and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The 6-0 defeat to Portugal seemed to be a wake-up call for Luxembourg as they have gone on to win all three of their matches since. They head into Monday’s clash off the back of a 3-1 victory over Iceland in their previous qualifying fixture.
While Luxembourg recently claimed a 2-0 victory in Bosnia & Herzegovina, their overall away record in Euro qualifiers is not the best. It has been just the one win in the last 12 away matches in qualifiers, a run stretching back to the Euro 2008 campaign.
How the bookies view it
The bookies have installed Portugal as overwhelming favourites with a home win priced at 1/16 with Coral. A victory for Luxembourg is valued at 70/1 by Paddy Power while a draw is set at odds of 14/1 by bet365.
Head to head
Portugal have a 16-1 advantage with one draw from 18 previous matches against Luxembourg. They claimed a 6-0 victory in the reverse fixture and also picked up a 5-0 home win during the Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
Players to watch
Although they are led by Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal have plenty of attacking threat and often spread their goals across the team. Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva and Rafael Leao have also been on target in recent matches and can ensure the hosts produce over 2.5 goals at 30/100 by William Hill.
As good as Portugal have been going forward, they are just as impressive at the back and have won to nil in all five qualifying matches so far. Ruben Dias remains a rock at centre-back and can lead the hosts to a similar outcome at 2/5 with Ladbrokes.
Anything else catch the eye?
Having led by four goals at the break in the reverse fixture, Portugal could be tipped in the -1 halftime handicap at 27/20 with Coral. The hosts could also be backed to win by 4 or more goals at 7/5 with Paddy Power.
There were two penalties the last time Portugal hosted Luxembourg and Monday’s clash can be tipped to produce another at evens with Paddy Power.
This Euro 2024 match between Portugal and Luxembourg will be played on Sep 11, 2023 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Portugal vs Luxembourg prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
