Ireland can’t qualify for the World Cup, Portugal are still fighting for top spot in Group A.
Portugal won the reverse fixture 2-1.
Portugal have conceded in 10 of their last 15 games.
Bruno Fernandes has two goals and two assists in his last four appearances for the visitors.
Portugal in need of a result

Ireland are playing for pride when they host Portugal on Thursday as they can no longer reach the World Cup but the visitors arrive in need of a result.

Portugal sit second in Group A with two games left to play, they are just one point behind leaders Serbia and the two teams meet in the final round of fixtures. The Serbs only have one game remaining, so a win for Portugal would put them firmly in the driving seat for the automatic spot.

For Ireland this tie is essentially a dead rubber, while Portugal need a result. However, a draw would be a positive result for the visitors too as that would still put them at the top of the group ahead of that key game with Serbia and that is clearly the more important fixture from their perspective.

BTTS adds value to an away win

Portugal clearly have the stronger squad and are the team in need of a result so we’re expecting them to win this match-up.

The Irish managed a goal in a 2-1 defeat in the reverse fixture back in September and have been in good scoring form, with seven goals in their last two games. Those successes came against Azerbaijan and Qatar, but Stephen Kenny’s men will want to put on a performance in their final home game of what has been a poor qualification campaign and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them grab a goal.

Portugal have managed three successive clean sheets against Azerbaijan, Qatar and Luxembourg but prior to that kept just two shut-outs in 12 games against better opposition so there are encouraging signs that Ireland can make a breakthrough.

Portugal have been in free scoring form of late with 14 goals in their last four games and with that in mind a 3-1 win for the visitors has some appeal in the correct score



译文(自动翻译仅供参考):

爱尔兰无法晋级世界杯，而葡萄牙仍在争夺A组的第一名。
葡萄牙队以2比1战胜了对手。
葡萄牙在过去的15场比赛中有10场失球。
布鲁诺·费尔南德斯在最近四次为客队出场的比赛中攻入2球，助攻2次。
葡萄牙需要一个结果

爱尔兰将在周四对阵葡萄牙的比赛中为荣誉而战，因为他们已经不能再参加世界杯了，但客队的到来需要一个结果。

在还有两场比赛的情况下，葡萄牙队在A组排名第二，他们仅落后领头羊塞尔维亚一分，两队将在最后一轮比赛中相遇。塞尔维亚只剩下一场比赛了，所以如果葡萄牙获胜，他们将稳居自动排位赛的主导位置。

对于爱尔兰来说，这场比赛基本上是一场死局，而葡萄牙需要一个结果。然而，对于客队来说，平局也是一个积极的结果，因为这将使他们在与塞尔维亚的关键比赛前仍处于小组第一的位置，从他们的角度来看，这显然是更重要的比赛。

BTTS增加了客场胜利的价值

葡萄牙显然拥有更强大的阵容，他们需要一个结果，所以我们期待他们赢得这场比赛。

去年9月，爱尔兰队在一场以2-1击败对手的比赛中攻入一球，并一直保持着良好的进球状态，最近两场比赛共进7球。这些胜利都是在对阿塞拜疆和卡塔尔的比赛中取得的，但是斯蒂芬·肯尼的球队想要在他们的最后一场主场比赛中表现出自己的实力，这是一个糟糕的预选赛，看到他们进球也不会让人惊讶。

葡萄牙已经连续三次对阿塞拜疆、卡塔尔和卢森堡保持零失球，但在此之前的12场比赛中，面对实力更强的对手，葡萄牙只有两场失球，所以有令人鼓舞的迹象表明爱尔兰可以取得突破。

葡萄牙队在最近的四场比赛中打进了14个进球，在这种情况下，客队3-1的胜利有一些吸引力