Portugal vs Bulgaria Prediction and Preview – 25/03/16
International Friendly preview – Portugal vs Bulgaria prediction.
Benfica teenager Renato Sanches has earned his first international call-up after a standout debut season in the Primeira Liga. Cristiano Ronaldo has been training with the squad but reports from Portugal suggest he may be rested with Real Madrid due to play Barcelona on 2 April and a Champions League quarter-final four days later. Ricardo Carvalho, Danny, Ricardo Quaresma and Eder have been recalled for the European Championship warm-ups but Thiago, Joao Moutinho and Fabio Coentrao will miss out due to injury.
Bulgaria’s next target is the World Cup qualifiers which get underway in September and head-coach Ivaylo Petev could take this opportunity to test some new players. Ludogorets Razgrad midfielder Marcelinho has received his first call-up while Litex Lovech defender Anton Nedyalkov and Pirin Blagoevgrad winger Toni Tasev are also in the running to make their international debuts. Petev is expected to keep faith with senior players like Nikolay Bodurov, Dimitar Rangelov, Ivelin Popov and Alexander Tonev who have all been called up for the squad.
Possible Line-ups
Portugal 4-3-3 formation: Patricio; Soares, Alves, R Carvalho, Eliseu; Mario, Pereira, Silva; Nani, Danny, Quaresma
Bulgaria 4-4-2 formation: Mitrev; Popov, Aleksandrov, Bodurov, Nedyalkov; Tasev, Dyakov, Chochev, Tonev; Popov, Rangelov
Statistics
- Portugal have won 7 drawn 0 and lost 3 of their last 10 matches
- Bulgaria have won 2 drawn 3 and lost 5 of their last 10 matches
- Over the course of their previous 10 matches, Portugal have scored an average of 1.2 goals and conceded an average of 0.8 goals per game
- Over the course of their previous 10 matches, Bulgaria have scored an average of 0.6 goals and conceded an average of 1.4 goals per game
- There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 2 of Portugal’s previous 10 matches
- There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 4 of Bulgaria’s previous 10 matches
Prediction
Portugal cruised through their Euro 2016 qualifying group with seven wins and one defeat from eight games. Fernando Santos’ side has won four of the last five keeping clean sheets in three of them. Portugal have played two friendly matches since qualifying for France, losing 1-0 in Russia and winning 2-0 in Luxembourg.
Bulgaria never threatened to progress from their European Championship qualifying group, winning three and drawing two of their ten games. Petev’s side has not played together since beating Azerbaijan 2-0 in the final group game in October and had lost the three previous group games without scoring. Bulgaria beat Malta 1-0 last summer, their only victory in the last six away games.
Doubts surrounding Ronaldo’s involvement should have little impact on the outcome as Portugal ought to be strong enough to overcome an experimental Bulgaria side.
Tips
Portugal to win at 1/3 with bet365
Under 2.5 goals at 5/6 with Marathonbet
Portugal to win 2-0 at 5/1 with 888sport
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