World Cup qualifiers, international friendlies
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THE 2022 Qatar World Cup qualifiers and international friendlies take centre stage for the next two weeks as Europe’s top leagues take a break. Tomorrow reigning European Champions Portugal travel to Belgrade for a tough match against Serbia while the powerful Belgians will aim to continue their good form against the Czechs.
EVENT # 1 – WCQ – SERBIA VS PORTUGAL
With the emergence of some of the most exciting young talent in world football, the Portugal squad is well and these talented youngsters will complement the evergreen Cristiano Ronaldo. Bruno Fernandes has been the most influential player at Manchester United since his move last season, while Bernardo Silva, Diogo Jota and Joao Felix are just a few of their exciting talent Portugal will have on show. When both sides met in the Euro qualifiers in March 2019, it ended in a 1-1 draw, while the reverse fixture saw the Portuguese dismantling the Serbs 4-2 at home. Portugal head into this game on the back of an exciting 3-2 win over a tricky Croatian side, prior to that game they were beaten 1-0 by France.
Serbia who gave a strong showing at the World Cup in 2018, will be aiming to produce the first shock of the World Cup qualifiers by upsetting the Portuguese on their home turf. The Serbs have been in imperious form on home soil. They have scored 10 times in five games at home, scoring twice in each of their last five home games which makes them dangerous to Portugal. Aside from getting spanked 0-5 away to Ukraine,
Serbia did very well in a tough Euro 2020 qualifying group, eventually losing to Scotland on penalty kicks after their play-off match ended in a draw. They head into this game having drawn their last two international friendlies against Panama and Dominica Republic, respectively.
KEY STATS
• Serbia – are unbeaten in their last four matches and have kept a clean sheet in three matches in a row.
However, Serbia have lost two of their last three matches against Portugal in European qualifiers.
• Portugal – have won seven of their last nine matches in European qualifiers. They are unbeaten in their last five matches against Serbia in all competitions.
• Both sides – when Serbia leads 1-0 at home, they have won all those games, while Portugal have won all games they have led 1-0 away. In their last five head-to-head meetings, both sides have scored.
The betting tip. Draw with both sides scoring.
EVENT # 2 WCQ – CZECH VS BELGIUM
Belgium will kick off their World Cup 2022 qualifiers with an away game against the Czech Republic.
The Czechs are on a good run of form heading into the World Cup encounter, as they are unbeaten in their last three matches with two wins and one draw. They reached the 2020 European Championship, which is scheduled to be played this summer after finishing second behind England, but they did beat England 2-1 in Prague. The Czechs have won their last two games, but their form has been somewhat of a mixed bag having five wins and three losses in their last eight matches, with their last loss a 1-0 home defeat against Germany.
Belgium, on the other hand, head into this game with high hopes of getting their 2022 World Cup campaign off to a winning start. They travel to the Czech Republic on a sensational run of form and have won each of their last four matches. The Red Devils, Belgium, haven’t lost a game since being beaten 1-2 by England in the
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Nations League back in October 2020. Since then, Belgium have reeled off impressive wins over the likes of Switzerland, England, Iceland, and Denmark.
KEY STATS
• Czech – have won three of their last five matches scoring five times and conceding three times.
• Belgium – have won their last four matches in a row scoring two or more goals in each of those matches.
• Both sides – when both sides last met in an international friendly back in 2017, Belgium won 2-1 in Brussels.
The betting tip. Belgium win.