Preview: Portugal vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina - prediction, team news, lineups

Portugal will be bidding to make it three wins from their opening three Euro 2024 qualification fixtures when they welcome Bosnia-Herzegovina on Saturday night.

Roberto Martinez's side are top of Group J on six points, beating Liechtenstein and Luxembourg thus far, while Bosnia sit third in the section, picking up three points from their opening two matches.

Match preview

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In truth, Martinez could not have hand-picked much better opponents to start his reign as Portugal boss, with Liechtenstein at home and Luxembourg away the team's first two fixtures in the section.

Portugal thumped Liechtenstein 4-0 before recording a 6-0 victory over Luxembourg three days later, and A Selecao now have fixtures against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iceland during this particular period.

Os Navegadores reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Qatar, which actually proved to be their best performance in that competition since finishing fourth in 2006.

Portugal won the European Championship in 2016, meanwhile, but they were knocked out in the round of 16 at Euro 2020 and will certainly be looking to make a bigger impression next summer, should qualification for the finals of the competition be secured.

The home side have won three of their last four games in all competitions, but this will be their biggest test in the section thus far, with Bosnia-Herzegovina capable of making this a tricky encounter.

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The visitors occupy third position in Group J, picking up three points from their opening two matches, which has left them one point behind second-placed Slovakia and three behind leaders Portugal.

Bosnia-Herzegovina opened their qualification campaign with a 3-0 victory over Iceland on March 23, but they then suffered a 2-0 loss to Slovakia three days later.

Head coach Faruk Hadzibegic has only been in charge since January, with the two games in March proving to be his opening two fixtures at the helm.

The Dragons famously qualified for the finals of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, being eliminated in the group stage of the competition, but they have never been present at the finals of a European Championship, losing in the playoffs in each of their last three qualification campaigns.

Team News

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Cristiano Ronaldo's presence in Martinez's first Portugal squad was not a surprise, and it was certain that he would also be named in the selection for the next two matches.

The 38-year-old scored four times in the March internationals, and he is again expected to feature in the final third of the field for this match, with Goncalo Ramos likely to be on the bench.

Martinez is spoilt for choice when it comes to the forward areas, but Bernardo Silva is a certain starter, while Joao Felix is also likely to be given the nod from the first whistle.

Manchester United duo Diogo Dalot and Bruno Fernandes should also both start, but Nuno Mendes is out through injury, so Raphael Guerreiro should start on the left.

Bosnia-Herzegovina, meanwhile, will have a familiar face at the tip of their attack, with Edin Dzeko set to make his 128th appearance for the national side.

The 37-year-old, who started for Inter Milan in the Champions League final last weekend, is comfortably his national side's leading goalscorer with 64.

Sheffield United's Anel Ahmedhodzic is also expected to start, while the experienced Miralem Pjanic, who now plays his football in the UAE Pro League, should feature in central midfield.

Portugal possible starting lineup:
Patricio; A Silva, Dias, Danilo; Dalot, Palhinha, Fernandes, Guerreiro; B Silva, Ronaldo, Felix

Bosnia-Herzegovina possible starting lineup:
Sehic; Dedic, Ahmedhodzic, Milicevic, Sanicanin, Gazibegovic; Hadziahmetovic, Cimirot, Pjanic; Dzeko, Prevljak

We say: Portugal 2-0 Bosnia-Herzegovina

Portugal are undoubtedly the favourites to top this section, and we are expecting them to be too strong for Bosnia-Herzegovina on Saturday night. Head coach Martinez can call upon so much quality all across the field, and we are backing a two-goal home success in this contest.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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