Football Bet of the Day: Lisbon lapse could let in Israel

Portugal v Israel
Wednesday 09 June, 19:45
Live on Sky Sports Football

Everything comes to he who waits, and Bolivia nabbed a late penalty to give themselves a 1-1 World Cup qualifying draw at Chile, and us an odds-against winner. With a cry of "Vamos!" and a spring in our step, we head to Portugal, because Fernando Santos' European champions are playing their final warm-up game against Israel.

Portugal have a tough group at Euro 2020 (France, Germany and Hungary), but they are still one of the teams that is fancied to challenge for the title once again. Coach Santos will look to add a dose of pragmatism to an incredibly talented group of attacking players, and that balance between attack and defence will be the key to their tournament. With Cristiano Ronaldo, Andre Silva, Diogo Jota, Bernardo Silva and Joao Felix all in the mix, Santos has to find a way to maximise all of that attacking potential, without sacrificing defensive solidity. The recent 0-0 draw with Spain won't exactly have delighted him - Spain made numerous chances in Madrid, and Alvaro Morata struck the crossbar with a late opportunity.

Portugal have kept seven clean sheets in their last nine home games, and that's probably why Both Teams To Score is trading at 2.789/5 here, but I think Israel can cause a problem or two. PSV's veteran forward Eran Zahavi has just had a strong domestic season, and scored in the recent 3-1 win against Montenegro. Manor Solomon also scored in that game, and caught the eye in Shakhtar Donetsk's Champions League campaign.

Portugal are generally very solid in defence, but they conceded in the recent World Cup qualifier against Luxembourg, and leaked twice against Serbia in the same set of March matches. Pre-tournament friendlies can throw up some weird score-lines, with players keen to avoid injury, and I just think 2.789/5 is too big a price for BTTS here.