2021/2022 - World Cup Qualification UEFA 2nd Round Preview:Portugal vs North Macedonia

Portugal News

Joao Cancelo is available having served a ban and is expected to start at right-back at Diogo Dalot's expense.

Other than that, Fernando Santos may elect against making any further changes to the side that started against Portugal.

That would see Danilo Pereira start alongside Jose Fonte in defence and Otavio keep his place in attack.

 

North Macedonia News

Eljif Elmas and Tihomir Kostadinov return follows bans for North Macedonia, who potentially lose Boban Nikolov after he was taken off against Italy on Thursday night.

The duo are expected to return to the midfield for Tuesday's World Cup playoff showdown with Portugal.

Bojan Miovski is hoping his assist for Aleksandar Trajkovski's winner against Italy will see him start in place of Milan Ristovski.

 

Prediction

Portugal rode their luck a little on Thursday night in their 3-1 win over Turkey. Burak Yilmaz's penalty miss late one saw the experienced striker blow the chance to draw Turkey level, before Matheus Nunes wrapped up the victory in injury time.

North Macedonia upset the odds to beat Italy 1-0 in Palermo in their playoff game. They have now won four of their last five World Cup qualifying matches and have now sprung upsets against both Germany and Italy in the last 12 months.

North Macedonia are not to be underestimated on Tuesday night, but Portugal should get the job done in Porto to book their Qatar 2022 spot.

World Cup Qualification UEFA 2nd Round preview: Portugal vs North Macedonia

Portugal News:

Joao Cancelo is available having served a ban and is expected to start at right-back at Diogo Dalot's expense.

Other than that, Fernando Santos may elect against making any further changes to the side that started against Portugal.

That would see Danilo Pereira start alongside Jose Fonte in defence and Otavio keep his place in attack.

 

North Macedonia News:

Eljif Elmas and Tihomir Kostadinov return follows bans for North Macedonia, who potentially lose Boban Nikolov after he was taken off against Italy on Thursday night.

The duo are expected to return to the midfield for Tuesday's World Cup playoff showdown with Portugal.

Bojan Miovski is hoping his assist for Aleksandar Trajkovski's winner against Italy will see him start in place of Milan Ristovski.

 

Prediction

Portugal rode their luck a little on Thursday night in their 3-1 win over Turkey. Burak Yilmaz's penalty miss late one saw the experienced striker blow the chance to draw Turkey level, before Matheus Nunes wrapped up the victory in injury time.

North Macedonia upset the odds to beat Italy 1-0 in Palermo in their playoff game. They have now won four of their last five World Cup qualifying matches and have now sprung upsets against both Germany and Italy in the last 12 months.

North Macedonia are not to be underestimated on Tuesday night, but Portugal should get the job done in Porto to book their Qatar 2022 spot.

International Friendly 2022 preview: Ireland vs Belgium

 Ireland News:

Blackburn defender Darragh Lenihan has withdrawn from the Ireland squad through injury.

Ireland finished their World Cup qualification campaign well and Stephen Kenny will hope to continue that work into 2022.

There will need to be a change in attack as neither Jamie McGrath nor Adam Idah are available for Ireland.

 

Belgium News:

Roberto Martinez has turned to new players for this international break. He has given the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois time off.

Meanwhile, Koen Casteels has withdrawn from the squad through injury.

 

Prediction:

Ireland failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, ultimately paying the price for starting their campaign with three straight defeats. In truth, however, they were fighting a losing battle trying to qualify in one of the top two positions with Serbia and Portugal in their group.

Belgium topped their group as expected and now Roberto Martinez is using this period between now and December to look else Belgium has to offer beyond their household names. He has rested nearly all of his main players for this break so expect plenty of rotation from the Belgium head coach.

Even without the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne and Dries Mertens, Belgium will still be expected to come away with the victory this weekend.

CONCACAF Prediction: Mexico vs USA

 2021/2022 - World Cup Qualification CONCACAF Final Stage Prediction :Mexico vs USA

 

Kick off:02:00

Date:Fri, 25-Mar-22

 

Mexico News

 

Rodolfo Pizarro and Jonathan Orozco have withdrawn from the Mexico squad to face USA.

Edson Álvarez should start in midfield as Andrés Guardado is unavailable for the home side.

 

USA News

 

Gregg Berhalter has been served a big blow with both Barcelona defender Sergino Dest and Salzburg attacker Brenden Aaronson forced to withdraw injured.

Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie was already ruled out for the USA so they are missing some big players heading into these massive matches.

Kellyn Acosta and Luca de la Torre are vying for that final spot in central midfield with McKennie unavailable.

Gio Reyna has endured a nightmare time with injuries this season but did play 90 minutes at the weekend.

Christian Pulisic's form was so bad earlier this year he was even dropped by the national team but he has three goals in his last five starts for Chelsea.

Jesus Ferreira and Ricardo Pepi are in competition to lead the line. Ferreira may get the nod as he has made a great start to the new MLS season with three goals in four games, whereas Pepi has only started three games in the Bundesliga this season.

 

Prediction

 

Mexico occupy the final qualification spot with three games to go. They are level on points with USA, who occupy second, and four adrift of leaders Canada. Crucially, however, they are four clear of fourth place Panama, who would have to settle for a play-off route to the 2022 World Cup, and finish qualification against two of the bottom ranked sides.

 

With three games USA are four adrift of first place Canada and after facing Mexico they face fourth place Panama and fifth place Costa Rica. All three sides are currently in the mix to qualify for the 2022 World Cup. With key players missing, USA have work to do to ensure they don't miss out on back-to-back World Cups.

 

Mexico haven't lost a home World Cup qualifier since 2013 and have only lost two of 47 this century. USA, meanwhile, have only won one of their last 10 World Cup qualifiers away from home. That doesn't bode well for USA here.

NBA Match Preview -- Portland Trail Blazers vs San Antonio Spurs

The San Antonio Spurs and the Portland Trail Blazers will meet in the NBA game at the Moda Center on Wednesday.

 

Portland Trail Blazers

The Portland Trail Blazers enter the game with a record of 27-44 and lost to Atlanta, New York, Brooklyn and Indiana Pacers in the last five games. Portland's only victory in the past five games was a 119-115 away victory over Detroit last time out. Four of Portland's last five games have been away.

 

San Antonio Spurs

The San Antonio Spurs enter the game with a record of 28-44 and lost three of their last five games against Indiana, Minnesota and New Orleans 124-91. San Antonio's only two victories came against Oklahoma City and 110-108 away against the Golden State Warriors.

 

Prediction

The Spurs have played their best away game this season. If they want to sneak into a playoff, they need to take advantage of such a game. The Portland Trail Blazers are in a mess, including losing an average of 14.2 points. I have no choice but to play with the Spurs here.

 

 

Tips: San Antonio Spurs -7.5

Australia A-League / Brisbane Roar vs Melbourne City Preview

Melbourne City head to Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday for the A-League meeting with home side Brisbane Roar.

 

Brisbane Roar

Brisbane Roar have won their last 2 games in a row, their first away win of the season with a 4-1 victory over Perth Glory. And with four wins, a draw and a loss at home, they are confident.

 

Melbourne City

Melbourne City has been unbeaten in 7 consecutive matches and is in stable form. However, they have won 1 and drawn 3 in their last 4 games, which is a step down from their previous matches. They are strong in attack but have conceded goals in six consecutive games.

 

Verdict:

There is a huge gap between the two teams and Roar have only 1 won, 1 drawn and 4 loose in their last 6 times against City. The 1X2 first odds is 4.00-3.80-1.80, which means support the away team. City should win ths game.

 

Brisbane Roar vs Melbourne City

Pick: 2

NBA Match Preview -- Orlando Magic vs Golden State Warriors

 

The Golden State Warriors pay a visit to the Orlando Magic at the Amway Center on Tuesday night.

 

Orlando Magic

The Orlando Magic have done well in the past 12 games and will seek to build some momentum after beating the Thunder 90-85 at home on Sunday. Wendell Carter Jr. led the team with 30 points and 16 rebounds, while Franz Wagner scored 11 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists.

 

Golden State Warriors

The Golden State Warriors have lost seven of their last 11 games. They are in a bit of a bad state. After losing 110-108 to the Spurs on Sunday, they hope to avoid losing for the third time in a row. Jordan Poole led the team with 28 points and Klay Thompson got 24 points.

 

Prediction

The Warriors will once again lose Stephen Curry, and the Magic will once again lose Jalen Suggs who is dealing with an ankle injury. The Magic recently played some good basketball. They looked great on the defensive side in their victory over the thunder. I prefer the them to hang out at home and get cover.

 

 

Tips: Orlando Magic +8.5