Portugal face Northern Macedonia in a crucial play-off game of the World Cup qualifiers. The Portuguese played a gruelling game against Turkey. The hosts managed to hold on, but failure was very close. It was fortunate that the Turks did not score a penalty. However, Portugal's play in attack left a pleasant impression. Ronaldo found common ground with Diogo Jota. Fernando Santos organised the team well and the Portuguese managed to break down the tight Turkish defence. Against Macedonia, the challenge will be similar, but slightly different. The visitors will play in the same style as they did against Italy. Northern Macedonia will not press in the opponent's half and will play with the whole team in defence. Before the match against Turkey, Portugal had problems against opponents who played with an emphasis on defence. Macedonia have some decent players who can cause problems for the Portuguese. If the Portuguese can't score early in the match, they might get nervous. Many will call North Macedonia's win over Italy a fluke, but even before that, the humble team had beaten Germany away. Bookmakers rightly regard the home side as the clear favourites. In fact, it will take a miracle to keep Portugal out of the World Cup, but many goals are unlikely in this encounter. First, Pepe will add confidence and experience to the home team's defence. It is possible that the visitors will not score any goals at all. Second, Portugal can pragmatically maintain a 1-0 or 2-0 advantage. It is difficult to imagine that four goals can be scored in this game. There are always a lot of nerves in such matches. Macedonia will hold a 0-0 or even a 0-1 for a nervy end. Portugal will try to minimise the risks after the first goal. It is logical to assume that we should not expect four goals in a game like this.