Portugal to get back on top in Group A

Hosts only fighting for pride

Stephen Kenny's side sit second bottom in Group A, with just one win in their six qualification matches. Only propped up by Azerbaijan who have one point to their name, trying to qualify for their first World Cup since 2002 always seemed an uphill battle with both Serbia and Thursday's opponents Portugal joining them in this group. The one bright light of Ireland's qualification process has been the 3-0 away win at Azerbaijan just over a month ago. Free-scoring striker (at least for his national side) Callum Robinson bagged a brace in that game with Chiedozie Ogbene topping up the goals for his side. Couple this with a routine 4-0 home win against Qatar in a friendly, another game in which Robinson was the star, scoring the full hat-trick this time, and Ireland's recent form should give them some belief. A draw with Serbia in the same international break as the Azerbaijan win shows that this team does have the ability to put themselves in the mix for qualification, but they're simply showing it way too late.

Fernando Santos' side score for fun

In reality, Portugal are only second to fellow unbeaten side Serbia due to playing one less game than the table-toppers. Both with five wins, and Serbia notching up two draws compared to Portugal's one slip up came against Serbia in a 2-2 draw in Belgrade back in March when the hosts went down to 10-men. October's set of international games saw similar results for Portugal to Ireland's. A 3-0 friendly win against Qatar, a nation that this group seem to be passing around for a battering, coupled with a 5-0 routine win against Luxembourg with Cristiano Ronaldo grabbing his hat-trick. Portugal and Serbia meet on the final matchday, in an encounter that looks set to be a tasty one. Five wins on the bounce heading into Thursday's game should see Portugal breeze past Ireland. But, I can't imagine this being another walk in the park for Santos' men. Ireland are no easy test, especially when playing them away. Last time out in Algarve, it took Ronaldo to score in the 89th and 96th minute to overturn a 1-0 deficit in the final minutes, maintaining Portugal's unbeaten record and allowing them to keep pace with group leaders Serbia.

Back at the beginning of September, when Ronaldo had one of his superhuman moments, Ireland still had something to play for. Now, with nothing to play for in Group A, I can't imagine the hosts will put up quite as much of a fight, but could still breach the Portuguese backline. That's why I'm going with over 2.5 goals in this one with bet365.

Bet Over 2.5 goals on Bet365