Portugal v Scotland: Prediction, Tips and Odds

Portugal beat Croatia 2-1 in Thursday's Nations League Group A1 opener and they are hot favourites to claim another home victory against Scotland this weekend. 

Portugal v Scotland betting tips and predictions

Portugal to win & over 2.5 goals @ 4/5

The goals dried up for Portugal at the business end of the Euros as their two knockout-stage ties both ended 0-0 after 120 minutes.

Roberto Martinez's men beat Slovenia on penalties in the last 16 before a quarter-final shootout defeat to France but they returned to winning ways in the Nations League on Thursday.

First-half goals from Diogo Dalot and Cristiano Ronaldo, scoring his 900th career goal, fired Portugal to a 2-1 home win over Croatia and they are expected to bank another three points against Scotland.

Their Euros campaign had started with a 2-1 win against the Czech Republic and a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Turkey and they won all 10 of their qualifying matches, scoring 36 times.

There should be more joy for their forwards against Scotland, whose only win in their last 13 internationals came in a June friendly against Gibraltar.

Portugal are missing injured PSG striker Goncalo Ramos but they still have a glut of attacking threats including Ronaldo, Diogo Jota, Joao Felix, Pedro Neto and Rafael Leao as well as classy midfielders Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva.

Scotland conceded five goals in their opening-night defeat to Germany at the Euros and looked shaky at the back against a limited Poland side this week.

That display suggests that backing Portugal to win a game featuring over 2.5 goals is a solid bet in Lisbon. 

Scotland's last two European Championship qualifying results were a 2-2 draw in Georgia and a 3-3 thriller at home to Norway and they have been beaten 3-1 by England, 4-1 by France and 4-0 by the Netherlands in friendlies in the past 12 months.

Bruno Fernandes to be first goalscorer @ 5/1

Playmaker Fernandes has had a quiet start to the Premier League season with Manchester United but he was at the heart of the action in Portugal's win over Croatia.

Fernandes set up Dalot's early opener and had four shots – the same number as Ronaldo – two of which were on target.

He has a fine goalscoring record for his country and is worth backing to break the deadlock on Sunday.

After a brace in the June friendly win over Finland, Fernandes scored against Turkey at the Euros and he contributed six goals in 10 starts during the qualifying campaign.

The United star opened the scoring in Portugal's last home qualifier against Iceland in November 2023 and poses a major threat to the visitors.      

Scott McTominay anytime goalscorer @ 15/2

If Scotland are to get on the scoresheet at the Estadio da Luz then Scott McTominay, until recently a teammate of Fernandes at Old Trafford, is their main hope.

McTominay was the only Scottish player to find the net at the Euros, helped by a deflection off a Swiss defender, and he scored their second goal against Poland on Thursday.

The Napoli new boy had five of Scotland's 11 shots against the Poles and is an eye-catching price to score at any time as only Romelu Lukaku, Portugal star Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane eclipsed his tally of seven goals in European Championship qualifying.

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Portugal v Scotland odds

Portugal - 2/9
Draw - 5/1
Scotland - 14/1

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.