Macedonia U21 v Portugal U21 Betting Tips: Red Lions not to be written off in Gdynia

Having been victorious during the opening round of fixtures, Portugal will have had high hopes of making the semi-finals, but those hopes were severely dented last time out as they were defeated by the ever-impressive Spain. With just one fixture remaining, and with Spain likely to win again, Rui Jorge’s men are left needing a win, probably to secure second place, which may or may not be enough to progress to the semi-finals.

Macedonia also require a win if they’re to grace the semi-finals with their presence, although, even if they were to take three points here, progression from the group seems unlikely at best. Having led with just a minute of normal time to go against Serbia last time out, the Macedonians will have been bitterly disappointed to walk away with a share of the spoils, especially since that goal could’ve easily been prevented. However, their performances at this tournament, despite a measly points tally, have been better than many might’ve expected and the progression that Macedonia, a country who were not recognised by FIFA until 1994, have made as a footballing nation is clear.

As far as the betting goes, Portugal are clear favourites ahead of this one, although a price of 1/6 seems somewhat over the top. Yes, they’re a stronger team with more strength in depth and yes, they’ve achieved more numerically at this tournament so far, but have they been that impressive? Definitely not. They were underwhelming against a Serbian team who weren’t at the races themselves on match-day one, while they came off second best against Spain last time out.

Macedonia may not have won at this tournament so far, but their opening performance didn’t warrant the 5-0 scoreline against Spain and they really ought to have seen out the win against Serbia. At the prices, you could easily support the Macedonians in the hope that they dig deep and get something from the game, but there are better options to take. ‘Both Teams to Score’ and ‘Macedonia to Score Over 0.5 Goals’, at 11/8 and 5/4 respectively, are two bets that are well worth being on ahead of this match.

Defensively, it’s fair to say that they’ve not been the sharpest, even if their tally of seven conceded is a bit misleading, and so a Portuguese outfit who’ve scored in both of their matches so far are definitely fancied to cause a few problems and get on the score-sheet. However, at the opposite end of the pitch, Macedonia can certainly get competitive. Not only did they score twice against the Serbians – one of which was a fine strike – but they were very unlucky not to register at least once against the Spanish. In fact, you could even argue that this Macedonia side fashioned more clear-cut chances against the current group leaders than Portugal did.

As Portugal come into this game and get forward, the counter-attack is likely to become a viable option for Macedonia and it would be no surprise at all if they were to profit from it. What’s more, in midfielder Enis Bardhi, Macedonia appear to have a dead-ball specialist in their ranks which means they’re also a threat from set-pieces, something that became particularly evident against Serbia last time out.

All in all, it’s easy to think that Portugal should run out easy winners here, but, if we dig a little deeper, it’s also easy to think that Macedonia can cause a few problems of their own and get on the score-sheet. With this in mind, backing the underdogs to find the net at least once is the way to play this one.

Serbia U21 v Spain U21 betting tips can be found here.