The semis of the UEFA Nations League are played mid-week. The first game on the schedule is the clash between Portugal and Switzerland, which will take place in Porto at Estadio Do Dragao on Wednesday evening. The home side is the favorite here, especially because Cristiano Ronaldo is back in the squad.
Portugal
Portugal finished on the top of the Group 3 of the League 1 of the UEFA Nations League. This team secured the top position, thus also securing a place in the finals, by winning 8 points in four matches. They finished the league stage without defeat, winning and playing a draw with both Italy and Poland.
Considering that a number of heavyweights have failed to get to the finals, Portugal is the team that’s been given the best chances of winning the trophy. And that was even before Cristiano Ronaldo announced his return. The legendary attacker wasn’t in the national team since the World Cup 2018. He didn’t take part in the Nations League matches in the group stage due to the fact that he needed wanted to focus on adapting to Juventus’ style of play, after moving to Italy last summer.
But, he’s back now and he wants the title! The season wasn’t too good for CR7. His team did win the Italian Serie A, but nothing more than that. They got knocked out by Ajax in the Champions League and have even failed to win the Italian Cup. Furthermore, Ronaldo failed to win the trophy in Serie A for the most prolific goal-scorer.
But, there’s still a chance for him to salvage the season; not with his club, but with his national team. That is why you can be sure we’re going to see him being extremely motivated on Wednesday. But, what do the Swiss have to say? In the next part of our Portugal vs Switzerland prediction, we’re going to talk a bit about the Switzerland national team.
Switzerland
They finished on the top of the group table after hammering Belgium 5:2 in the last round. The game was the culmination of pretty impressive attacking performances of the team for the last couple of months. Actually, this team has scored the most goals out of all the teams that competed in the League A.
Switzerland striker Haris Seferovic is the top scorer in the League A with five goals to his name. His teammate, Xerdan Shaqiri is the runner-up when it comes to players with the highest number of assists. The number 1 player with most assists is Marco Asensio, but Spain is not in the finals, meaning that Shaqiri has a fairly good chance to overtake the top spot.
However, the Swiss aren’t big favorites in the finals. Actually, the bookies think Switzerland is the least likely to win the trophy out of all four finalists. Still, considering their form, even if they fail to do anything against Portugal, they’re guaranteed to give CR7 and his teammates a run for their money. To see what we think will happen in this game, just scroll down to Portugal vs Switzerland betting tips!
Possible Lineups
Portugal
Patricio – Pepe, Fonte, Semedo, Rui – Jota, Moutinho, Bernardo Silva, Guedes – Ronaldo, Felix
Switzerland
Sommer – Schar, Akandji, Elvedi, Rodriguez – Xhaka, Fernandez, Zakaria, Zuber – Shaqiri, Seferovic
Portugal vs Switzerland Prediction
Portugal is the stronger team of the two and I think they will be able to win this match. Still, I also think the chance of the Swiss scoring at least once seems pretty plausible.
Portugal vs Switzerland Betting Tips
- Portugal @1.61 (bet365)
- Over 2.5 Goals @2.07 (Unibet)
- BTS @2.00 (betway)