Cristiano Ronaldo shook off the ring-rust by netting his 64th and 65th goals of a remarkable season in his side’s 2-1 victory over Holland last Sunday and there is good reason to suggest that he will carry on in similar fashion tomorrow.
Next on the agenda for Ronaldo is a Czech Republic side with a negative goal difference, which suggests their defence is ready to be exploited by the Real Madrid star.
Ronaldo hit the back of the net when the two sides met in Euro 2008 and is odds-on at 17/20 to score at any time at Warsaw’s National Stadium tomorrow.
But punters looking for bigger returns can find them with odds of 8/5 on Ronaldo to score in a Portugal win or with the 3/1 on Ronaldo grabbing two or more goals, as he did against the Dutch.
Nani has already scored against Petr Cech this season in a 3-1 win for the Premier League runners-up and he will hope to beat the Czech Republic keeper once again to get his first goal of the tournament.
Another member of the Portugal squad who scored against the Czechs in 2008 was Ricardo Quaresma, who notched the last goal of his side’s 3-1 win that day.
No bookie can beat our odds of 14/1 on Quaresma to score last on Thursday, at 14/1, meaning the free £20 bet for new bwin customers would return a huge £300 if successful.
However, with Quaresma yet to make an appearance at the tournament, those looking for an alternative to Ronaldo could be best to look at Nani.
Ronaldo’s former sidekick at Manchester United is priced at 9/4 to find himself on the scoresheet. The winger has already scored against Petr Cech this season in a 3-1 win for the Premier League runners-up and he will hope to beat the Czech Republic keeper once again to get his first goal of the tournament.
The Czechs have relied on two men so far in Poland and Ukraine, with Vaclav Pilar and Petr Jiracek each having scored two of the Republic’s four goals. If the underdogs do defeat the Portuguese, it is likely that one of these two players will have scored and the odds on them scoring at any point during the 90 minutes are 4/1 for Pilar and 5/1 for Jiracek.
And even more rewarding could be the odds on them to score in a Czech Republic win, which are 9/1 and 12/1 respectively.
Recommended bet: Ronaldo to score and Portugal to win @ 8/5
Outside punt: Pilar to score at any time @ 4/1
To read a full betting preview of Czech Republic v Portugal, click here.
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