Euro 2020: Portugal to Put Poor Lithuanians to the Sword Again

Portugal vs Lithuania

Reigning European champions Portugal have yet to punch their ticket to Euro 2020. After losing to Group B leaders Ukraine last time out, they remain locked in a tight battle with Serbia for that second automatic qualifying spot with just two matches remaining.

But the Portuguese have the advantage of having a much easier run-in of the two, one which begins at home against bottom side Lithuania.

Portugal already dealt Lithuania a heavy defeat in their first meeting, and the Euro 2020 odds have them installed as massive favourites once again. It would take a monumental collapse for the European champions not to come away with all three points at home.

Talking Points

Ronaldo’s rocky form

Portugal were unable to put more daylight between themselves and Serbia during the last international break after they fell 2-1 away to Ukraine. The defeat snapped their streak of three consecutive qualifying victories, where they scored a total of 12 goals.

Euro 2020: Cristiano Ronaldo was substituted while playing for Juventus — Cristiano Ronaldo reacts after being substituted during Juventus match vs AC Milan

Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored six of those 12 goals, did extend his scoring streak for his country to four games with a penalty against Ukraine. However, the Portuguese superstar will not come into this match in the best of form.

Ronaldo was subbed off after just 55 minutes in Juventus’ match against AC Milan on the weekend after a disappointing display. In his anger and frustration at getting taken off, Ronaldo promptly left the stadium. His replacement, Paulo Dybala, then went on to score the winner in a 1-0 Juve win.

After the match, Juve manager Maurizio Sarri revealed Ronaldo was dealing with a knee injury, which he had apparently been playing with for the last month.

That injury seems to explain the slight dip in Ronaldo’s form of late. Ronaldo has now failed to score in his last three matches for Juventus, and his lone goal in his last five was a late stoppage-time penalty against Genoa.

With Ronaldo not quite at his best and teen phenom Joao Felix still out due to injury, Portugal boss Fernando Santos’ attacking options for this match will be somewhat limited.

But with the likes of Bernardo Silva and Goncalo Guedes, the Portuguese still have the firepower to penetrate Lithuania’s leaky defence.

Lithuania languishing

Speaking of poor form, Lithuania remain in absolutely horrific nick as their Euro 2020 results have not been pretty. They have picked up just one point in seven qualifying matches, with that lone point coming at home against minnows Luxembourg.

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UEFA EURO 2020

Lithuania have now gone winless in their last 18 matches, losing 15 and drawing three. Their last victory came in a friendly away to Armenia, 1-0, back in March 2018. And their last win in a qualifying match was in the 2018 World Cup qualifier back in 2016, where they beat Malta 2-0 at home.

Lithuania manager Valdas Urbonas clearly has his work cut out for him in terms of turning around the fortunes of this struggling side.

Captain Fedor Černych and Arvydas Novikovas are the main danger men in attack for Lithuania. Černych has nine goals in 53 caps, while Novikovas has seven in 56, with two of his goals coming during this qualifying cycle.

However, they just don’t have enough firepower to make up for their incredibly leaky defence, which has already shipped 19 goals in just seven qualifying matches.

History

Portugal and Lithuania have faced off just three times in their history. The Portuguese have dominated that matchup, winning all three games in dominant fashion. They won their two international friendly meetings in 2000 and 2004 by 5-1 and 4-1 scorelines, respectively.

And in their first meeting of this qualifying campaign, Portugal claimed a 5-1 away win with Ronaldo bagging four goals.

Betting Tip

	Portugal vs Lithuania	Lithuania Asian Handicap +3.50 @ 1.91
	November 15, 03:45 (GMT+8)

If you’re looking for the 1X2 market odds on this match, don’t bother. SBOBET considers this to be such a disparity in quality that they didn’t even bother to put them up. Although, they still have odds up on the Asian Handicap and the over under.

The Asian Handicap line is set at 3.5 goals, which is right where it should be given the history between the two coupled with Lithuania’s recent struggles.

It’s tempting to take Portugal to produce another thorough thrashing after such a convincing win away in Lithuania. But I believe the Lithuanians will put up at least some resistance to prevent a repeat of that embarrassment they received at the hands of Ronaldo and Co.

Portugal should still win by a relatively comfortable scoreline, but Lithuania will keep it reasonably respectable this time around.