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June 13 2024, 01:01 · Alex Lawes

Portugal vs Czechia Preview & Prediction | UEFA EURO 2024 | Group Stage

Portugal vs Czechia Preview & Prediction | UEFA EURO 2024 | Group Stage
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UEFA EURO 2016 winners Portugal are once again among the pre-tournament favourites and they start their campaign at Red Bull Arena in Leipzig against the rebranded Czech Republic, now known as Czechia.

KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Tuesday 18th June, 2024 - UK – 8:00pm / US EST – 3:00pm / US PST – 1:00pm

HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – BBC / US – FOX

HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – BBC iPlayer / US – VIX

PORTUGAL PREVIEW: ONE OF THE FAVOURITES

Roberto Martinez is now used to putting together some of the very best qualifying campaigns we have seen in Europe. Firstly with Belgium and now with Portugal, he knows how to set up a genuinely talented side to swat aside the middle or lower ranked sides in Europe – which is genuinely a skill in itself because some others do make qualifying look difficult.

Now we are getting to a tournament, though, and decisions will have to be made. The typical cliché in the modern era is that it is caution that will rule the day in major tournament football but that is not the way this star-studded Portugal side will play. They have had some dodgy performances and results in the last few months, though, so there will need to be clarity in their opening game.

CZECHIA PREVIEW: CZECHIA, MATE

Despite automatically qualifying for this tournament, it was a bizarre and underwhelming campaign for Czech Republic, or Czechia as they are now known, with key players, including Vladimir Coufal, dropped in November for disciplinary reasons. After finishing second behind Albania in qualification, manager Jaroslav Silhavy resigned and has been replaced by Ivan Hasek.

Hasek leads his side into this one on the back of a 7-1 hammering of Malta, which will be a major confidence boost for the central Europeans – especially because key attackers such as Bayer Leverkusen duo Patrik Schick and Adam Hlozek didn’t even get on the scoresheet. They are now unbeaten in six matches.

PORTUGAL TEAM NEWS: THE IMPROVEMENT OF CR7

There was an expectation that one of Portugal's young guns in Antonio Silva would start alongside Ruben Dias at the back but 41-year-old Pepe is now expected to be the Manchester City defender's partner. Joao Felix finished the warm-up friendlies well against Ireland, whilst it is a shootout in midfield between another starlet in Benfica's Joao Neves or PSG's Vitinha alongside Joao Palhinha.

PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Costa; Cancelo, Silva, Dias, Mendes; Joao Palhinha, Vitinha; Silva, Fernandes, Joao Felix; Cristiano Ronaldo

UNAVAILABLE:

QUESTIONABLE:

CZECHIA TEAM NEWS: FINDING WAYS TO LIMIT THE OPPOSITION

The injury to Michal Sadilek on the eve of the tournament is a big blow to Czechia and means Ivan Hasek has to re-think his midfield alignment. It really is all up in the air but David Doudera playing out of position alongside Tomas Soucek seems the best bet with Antonin Barak in behind Bayer Leverkusen duo Adam Hlozek and Patrik Schick.

PREDICTED XI (3-4-1-2): Stanek, Vitik, Zima, Holes; Coufal, Soucek, Doudera, Provod; Barak; Hlozek, Schick

UNAVAILABLE:

QUESTIONABLE:

KEY STATS

  • This is Portugal’s eighth successive EURO appearance and their ninth overall.
  • Portugal have qualified from the group stage in all their previous eight EURO appearances.
  • Portugal were the only team to win all their matches in EURO 2024 qualifying (P10 W10). They also scored the most goals (36) and conceded the fewest (2).
  • Portugal kept nine clean sheets in their ten qualifying matches for EURO 2024.
  • Portugal have won their last four matches against Czechia.
  • This is the fourth EURO meeting between Portugal and Czechia. The Czechs won the first in the EURO 1996 quarter-finals by one goal to nil. Portugal have won the last two, a 1-0 victory in the EURO 2012 quarter-finals and a 3-1 win in the group stage in 2008.
  • Portugal have lost only four of their previous 24 EURO group stage matches (W13 D7).
  • Portugal have drawn four of their last six EURO group stage matches (W1 L1).
  • Only two of Portugal’s previous 24 EURO group stage matches finished without a goal being scored.
  • If Portugal do not score it will be the first time they have failed to score in successive EURO matches.
  • This is Czechia’s eighth successive EURO appearance.
  • Czechia lost only one of their eight matches in qualifying for EURO 2024 (W4 D3).
  • None of Czechia’s last 24 EURO matches have finished without a goal being scored. The last time they were involved in a 0-0 draw was in the 1996 semi-finals against France (W on pens).
  • Czechia are aiming to win their opening match at a second successive EURO having defeated Scotland 2-0 in their first fixture at EURO 2020.
  • Czechia have won only three of their last 11 EURO group stage matches (D2 L6).
  • Patrik Schick has scored five goals in Czechia’s last five EURO matches.

PORTUGAL VS CZECHIA PREDICTION

Portugal are one of the leading pre-tournament favourites and Roberto Martinez has cultivated a tactical structure that Fernando Santos barely ever found, despite the veteran winning UEFA EURO 2016. The Iberians put together a more cohesive and controlled performance in their final warm-up match, too, in a 3-0 win against Ireland. Czechia have had a lot of issues off the field and have improved slightly on it since Ivan Hasek, who captained Czechoslovakia at the 1990 FIFA World Cup, was appointed. Despite that, though, this could be one of the more one-sided encounters in the opening round of fixtures.

PORTUGAL VS CZECHIA TIP: PORTUGAL TO WIN -1 HANDICAP