Portugal vs North Macedonia: Match Preview, Predicted Line-ups and Dream11 Predictions

Portugal vs North Macedonia is the upcoming FIFA World Cup qualifiers final match on Tuesday in Porto. Cristiano and co. look to seal their berth for Qatar 2022 while North Macedonia are just 90 minutes from creating a footballing legacy for twenty lakh Macedonians.

Portugal vs North Macedonia: Match Preview:

While on paper, Cristiano Ronaldo's side are huge favourites, the fact their opponents conquered Italy in Palermo on Thursday night makes this a potential banana skin. Italy had 32 shots in the match but could not breach the North Macedonian defence.

Indeed, for all the quality Portugal boast, they have been prone to the odd slip-up here and there, with Euro 2016-winning coach Fernando Santos coming under huge pressure for his inability to truly make the most of his attacking talent.

For North Macedonia, this is somewhat of a free-hit. Growing on the international stage, they are a dangerous opponent in their own right but can afford to frustrate the home side before looking for a counter-punch, much as they did against the Italians.

Team News:

Experienced defender Pepe has returned to train after missing Portugal's win over Turkey following a positive Covid test. Joao Cancelo is back from suspension and should replace Diogo Dalot in the starting line-up.

Otavio is expected to partner Ronaldo and Diogo Jota in attack, with Jose Fonte pairing alongside Pepe in defence.

For North Macedonia, Eljif Elmas and Tihomir Kostadinov return from suspension and could come back into the side.

However, the visitors may decide to keep the faith with the side that produced a famous win over the Italians.

Portugal vs North Macedonia: Head to Head:

In two head-to-head encounters between the two sides, Portugal have won one game and drawn one. The two countries last faced each other way back in 2012, with the game ending 0-0.

Recent form in all competitions:

Portugal:

3-0 win over Qatar

5-0 win over Luxembourg

0-0 draw against Republic of Ireland

2-1 loss against Serbia

3-1 win over Turkey

North Macedonia:

4-0 win over Liechtenstein

4-0 loss against Germany

5-0 win over Armenia

3-1 win over Iceland

1-0 win over Italy

Portugal vs North Macedonia: Predicted Line-ups:

Portugal Predicted XI (4-3-3): Diogo Costa, Joao Cancelo, Jose Fonte, Danilo Pereira, Raphael Guerreiro, William Carvalho, Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Otavio, Cristiano Ronaldo, Diogo Jota

North Macedonia Predicted XI (4-1-4-1): Stole Dimitrievski, Stefan Ristovski, Darko Velkovski, Kire Ristevski, Ezgjan Alioski, Stefan Spirovski, Darko Churlinov, Boban Nikolov, Enis Bardhi, Aleksandar Trajkovski, Milan Ristovski

POR vs MCD: Dream11 Predictions: