Portugal vs Bosnia tips: Back hosts to win both halves
- George Dempsey
- 15 June 2023
Portugal will be looking to put on a dominant performance against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Portugal will look to maintain their perfect record when they host Bosnia-Herzegovina in a Euro 2024 qualifier at Estadio da Luz on Saturday.
Date, KO time and TV coverage
Euro 2024 qualifier, Saturday June 17, Kick-off 7:45pm, live on Viaplay Xtra
Predicted score
Suggested bets
Key stats
Portugal have a strong defensive record in European and World Cup qualifiers, conceding 11 in their previous 26 home matches.
Portugal began their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign with a 4-0 win over Liechtenstein. and a 6-0 win in Luxembourg.
Bosnia have lost back-to-back away games, losing 4-1 to Romania and 2-0 to Slovakia.
Verdict
A win for Portugal would be their third win in three qualifiers and open a six-point gap to Bosnia, who are seen as their main threat in the group.
The visitors represent a step up in the quality of the opponent, but their 2-0 loss to Slovakia on matchday two shows they're vulnerable.
The sides haven't met since 2011 when Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring in the 8th minute of a 6-2 win for Portugal.
Portugal have won 10 of their previous 12 matches on home soil and Bosnia have failed to win in 19 of 21 on their travels.
Given the disparity in form between the two sides, it's hard to make a case for Bosnia to keep this game close.
Bosnia are likely to be reliant on Rade Krunic and Edin Dzeko. The duo from Milan are the only players to have scored more than once in Bosnia's last six matches.
They have failed to score more than once in 13 of their previous 15 matches, so it does look unlikely they'll keep pace with Portugal in their current form.
Meanwhile, Portugal have an embarrassment of riches. Ronaldo (4), Goncalo Ramos (3), Rafael Leao (2) and Bernardo Silva (2) have scored at least twice
Despite a disappointing end to his domestic season, Cristiano Ronaldo continues to score and should remain motivated to remind everyone he's still Portugal's main man.
We're going to back Portugal to cruise to victory by scoring early and often with their record goalscorer getting in on.
