Portugal vs Chile Prediction: Portugal to rack up the goals

Hype is building around Portugal ahead of the World Cup, and rightly so. They’ve got arguably the best midfield in the tournament and a squad that could go toe-to-toe with any other nation, so winning their first crown could be within reach. 

They face Chile (6:45pm, Amazon Prime) at Estadio Nacional do Jamor, Oeiras on Friday, with Roberto Martinez hoping to fine-tune his starting XI. Check out my Portugal vs Chile predictions down below.

Team News

With a friendly game against Nigeria still to come before their World Cup kicks off against DR Congo, Martinez may choose to take a look at some of his fringe players for this game that Portugal should win. 

Goncalo Ramos, Goncalo Guedes and Ruben Neves could all be handed starts as the manager tries to share minutes ahead of the big opener. 

Chile didn’t make the World Cup but will relish the chance of taking on one of the best in the world. Lucas Cepeda may start on the left, and remarkably he’s the top scorer in this present squad, with three international goals to his name. 

This is a new era for Chile and the rebuild looks to be a big one, but in Midtjylland midfielder Dario Osario they have a 22-year-old who could feature for the next decade. 

Football Odds

Portugal vs Chile Odds

Portugal are the 2/9 favourites to win this game, with Chile the massive underdogs at 10/1. A draw is 9/2, over 2.5 goals is 1/2 and BTTS is EVS. 

Cristiano Ronaldo is 2/1 to score first if you fancy backing the 41-year-old to warm up with the opening goal.

Portugal -2 handicap @ 6/4

I’m really positive about Portugal’s chances this summer and I think this fixture is a chance for them to put a marker down, even if we don’t see their first-choice XI. Chile have really regressed over the past few years, and the memories of their back-to-back Copa America wins a decade ago have well and truly faded. 

They were honking in qualifying, finishing rock-bottom in South America, with just 11 points from 18 matches. They lost 11 of those games, but to their credit they did win two friendlies in November over Russia and Peru. 

Portugal are going to flex their muscles in this one and I can see them landing a big win against far inferior opposition. 

Over 2.5 first-half goals @ 10/3

I know friendlies can sometimes be a bit disappointing and slow, but I honestly think the gap between these two sides will be apparent from the very first minute. I don’t see any point in backing individual selections here given the team could be absolutely anything, but the strength in depth should tell. 

I can see Portugal flying out of the blocks here with the players wanting to make a big statement, and that makes the over 2.5 goals first-half goals appealing at a big price.