Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo. (Photo : Getty Images)
Reigning Euro 2016 champions Portugal (0-1-0, 0 points) will look to bounce back from their humiliating defeat in the opening round of Group B competitions in the 2018 FIFA World Cup UEFA qualifying tournament as they host lowly squad Andorra (0-1-0, 0 points) at the Estádio Municipal in Aveiro on Oct. 7, Friday.
Start Time and Streaming Info
The game starts at 7:45 p.m. UTC+1. It can be viewed live online thru FuboTV.
Portugal opened the qualifiers without team captain Cristiano Ronaldo, who was sidelined by a thigh injury he suffered during the final of the 2016 Euros against host team France. He is set to return in this match against Andorra and is expected to go all-out to redeem his national team.
Without Ronaldo, A Seleção dropped an embarrassing 0-2 game to Switzerland at the St. Jakob-Park in Basel on Sep. 6, as per Daily Mail Online.
Head coach Fernando Santos had Nani, Eder, and Bernardo Silva up front in his usual 4-3-3 formation, but the trio was held scoreless by the inspired Swiss defense.
The defense was not able to stop two first half goals at the 23rd and 30th minutes, courtesy of La Nati forwards Breel Embolo and Admir Mehmedi respectively, which eventually were the winning goals for the hosts.
Nani will sit out this match versus Andorra with an injury. He is expected to be replaced by Besiktas winger Ricardo Quaresma while Ronaldo is expected to take back his place at the right wing from Silva.
Meanwhile, Andorra is coming off a sorry 0-1 loss to Latvia in their own tournament-opener also on Sep. 6 held at their own home stadium of Estadi Nacional in Andorra la Vella, via Soccerway.
Latvian forward Valerijs Sabala was the only goalscorer of the match as he hit one three minutes into the second half.
The Tricolors are currently ranked 203rd in the world by FIFA and are the huge underdogs in this match against Portugal.
Prediction and Predicted Lineup
The predicted result is a 3-0 victory for Portugal.
Portugal starting lineup (4-3-3 formation): Rui; Alves, Pepe, Fonte, Guerreiro; Moutinho, Carvalho, Silva; Ronaldo, Eder, Quaresma
Andorra starting lineup (4-1-4-1 formation): Pol; Rubio, Lima, Llovera, Garcia; Vales; Clemente, Alaez, Vieira, Martinez; Riera
