1xBet Match Preview: Portugal vs Morocco

Portugal vs Morocco
World Cup 2018 Group B
Date: Wednesday, 20 June 2018
Kick-Off at 14:00 GMT +2
Venue: Stadion Luzhniki, Moscow.

The Russian capital will play host to the second round of the Group B match as Portugal and Morocco take on each other battling it out to save hopes for qualifying to the knockout stage.

Cristiano Ronaldo and team obviously enter this game as pretty clear favourites, especially after the superb effort put on against Iberian rivals Spain on the second day of the tournament.

Morocco conceded a last-gasp goal to get away from the opening round tie with Iran; empty-handed in spite of the promising start to the affair. The North Africans now have a mountain to climb in what is a must-win clash against Portugal on Wednesday afternoon.

Nevertheless, beating the solid African outfit will by no means be a piece of cake for the Portuguese outfit.

The good news for Portugal fans is that they have a high-profile head coach in the like of Fernando Santos on the bench. The man who had earlier instilled the impressive discipline into Greek’s national side led Portugal to the EURO silverware two years ago in France.

Fernando Santos certainly knows how to motivate his men ahead of such an important second round tie.

His colleague on the other side, Herve Renard, will have a much tougher challenge doing so after the Atlas Lions shipped a goal in the fifth minute of the stoppage time in the first round match against Iran.

It was Aziz Bouhaddouz who headed the ball into his team’s own net after a set piece to produce a goal that made all the difference between the group underdogs, leaving Morocco with super slim chances of progressing to the last 16.

Match Facts
The two teams took on each other just once in the past. Interestingly, the clash was also played at the World Cup, back in 1986 when Morocco took a shocking 3-1 victory in the group stage.

The Atlas Lions topped their respective group back then with four points, while Selecao das Quinas ended at the rock-bottom with two draws in remaining fixtures.

Portugal come into this off the back of a 3-3 draw in a high-scroing thriller against the Iberian heavyweights Spain.

Betting Tips

Portugal to win: 1.73

Morocco to win: 6.15

Portugal and Morocco to win: 3.68

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