Portugal vs. Czech Republic Predictions: Back Ronaldo to score his 118th International goal in Lisbon

Portugal will look to continue their unbeaten start to the Nations League on Thursday evening as they take on the Czech Republic in Lisbon. Here at BettingOdds.com we’ve taken a dive into the markets and have provided you with our best bets for the action. 

Cristiano Ronaldo was on the scoresheet twice as his Portugal side thumped Switzerland 4-0 in their second game in League A Group 2. That leaves them on four points after a draw with Spain in their opener who also shared their points with the Czech Republic on Sunday. 

Fernando Santos’s side are currently top of the group on goal difference and will be looking to replicate their success of winning the inaugural running of this tournament back in 2018. Portugal are the current second-favourites in the outright winner market at a best price of 7/1 with BetVictor.

Czech Republic have scored two goals in each of their group games so far with both teams to score in Thursday night’s game being offered at around 9/10 with most bookmakers. After a 2-1 win in their opener against Switzerland the Czech’s put in a solid showing in a 2-2 draw with Spain. They will arrive here with nothing to fear and are unbeaten in 90 minutes in their last nine International matches. 

Pepe has started both group games so far for Portugal and his 39-year-old legs may be rested for this game, with Domingos Duarte expected to slot into defence. Jakub Jankto is a doubt for the visitors, while Jan Kuchta is expected to continue in attack after scoring both against Spain and Switzerland. 

The first selection we are touting on Thursday is for Portugal to win the match and Cristiano Ronaldo to score, available at 11/10 with bet365. The Selecao have tended to take this little competition a little more seriously than some of the other European heavyweights in recent years and we were impressed with the performance against Switzerland last weekend.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 116th and 117th International goals in that game and his hunger and desire for goals doesn’t seem to be drying up any time soon. The five-time Ballon D’or winner looks as hungry as ever and has finished the season in good form with eight goals in his last six starts for club and country. Now at the age of 37, Ronaldo has 14 goals in his last 13 starts for Portugal and we fancy him to find the net once again, as part of a win for his national side here. 

We’ll also be having a small punt on Manchester City and Portugal full back Joao Cancelo to score or assist in the match. This can be found on Paddy Power under their ‘Power Prices’ on the match page and can be backed at 11/4. 

For Manchester City in the Premier League this season, Cancelo provided seven assists and also completed a hat-trick of assists in one game in the Champions League last autumn. When it comes to getting shots away, Cancelo was head and shoulders above any other defender in the league last season letting off 81 shots in total. To put that into perspective, that’s 30 more than the next highest defender in the division, Trent Alexander-Arnold with 51. 

Cancelo has also been productive in the final third for his country over the last season with six goal contributions in his last nine International matches. With this in mind we think this looks a wise play considering the Czech Republic have only kept three clean sheets in their last ten matches, which came against Belarus, Estonia and Kuwait.