Portugal vs Hungary Prediction, Betting Tips and Preview - EURO 2020
How Hungary Qualified for Euro 2020
Hungary were one of the four teams from the five-strong Group E to qualify for the finals. They were drawn in a tricky group alongside Croatia, Wales, Slovakia, and Azerbaijan. The former two qualified automatically leaving Slovakia and Hungary to battle it out in the play-offs.
Things only got tougher from there. They beat Bulgaria 3-1 in the semi-finals before taking on one of the surprise acts of the 2016 tournament, Iceland. They overcame a strong Iceland team stacked with quality with a 2-1 victory. Hungary’s star man, Dominik Szoboszlai scored a 92nd-minute winner to secure his country’s passage into the tournament proper. It’s just the second European Championships that Hungary have played in since the 1970s.
How Portugal Qualified for Euro 2020
Portugal didn’t have the best qualification campaign. It wasn’t what manager Fernando Santos would have wanted after victory at Euro 2016 and the 2019 UEFA Nations League. They finished second in Group B behind rivals Ukraine.
It was a little disappointing for the current European champions. They drew with Serbia in Lisbon but they lost top spot in their two matches against Ukraine. They took just one point from those two matches, a 0-0 draw at the Estadio da Luz in their group opener back in March 2019. It represented a disappointing return for the team that eventually finished as top scorers in the group.
Hungary v Portugal Stats & Analysis
Portugal certainly found their way to goal in qualification. 22 goals is a decent return and it’s a figure that only four of the teams that played eight matches could better. Cristiano Ronaldo got half of them. Only Harry Kane outscored the Juventus striker in qualification. That is down to quality chance creation.
Portugal were perhaps a little unlucky not to take more points than they did because they were creating good chances. They had the second-highest expected goals for them per match in the qualification stages of the competition at 2.79 per match. Hungary can’t compete with that. Their figure stands at just 1.34 per match.
The result is a big difference in the number of goals each team put out. Hungary managed an average of just 1.3 per match, certainly comparable to their xG. Portugal averaged 2.75 per game, showing that their own xG is accurate.
Hungary v Portugal Bets
It’s no surprise to see that Portugal are the favourites to win this match. The reigning champions are 5/7 odds-on to secure three vital points in this Group F match. A draw is 3/1 and Hungary are out at 5/1 to get the win on home soil. It’s 11/8 for a Hungary win or a draw double chance if you fancy Portugal to drop points.
But a comfortable Portuguese win is far likelier. The reigning champions produce far more chances per match on average and with their attacking talent, goals are likely. It’s 2/1 for the visitors, Portugal to win with a European handicap of 1-0 to the hosts and 11/2 for 2-0.
