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Background
It's a question of just four teams in Group A as Belgium, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are all mathematically out of the running for a place in next year's grand finale in Austria and Switzerland. At the moment Poland and Portugal are the two teams that will go through, although three and four points behind lie Serbia and Finland - both still in with a shout that spices up the last two games.
Portugal come to the last two matches feeling a lot more confident as the last wins abroad rinsed away the bitter aftertaste of two lame draws in Lisbon and a Scolari red mist that cost the Coach a ban that only ends after the weekend date with Armenia, allowing the Brazilian to get back on the bench for the swansong against Finland.
Flavio 'Murtosa' Teixeira will still be in charge of the Quinas as Felipão sits out his last suspended match against an adversary that has never beaten Portugal. The faithful sidekick who's accompanied Scolari through thick and thin registered 100% as interim Coach.
Both nations have met a total of three times in UEFA competition with the honours going to Portugal, though not with the sort of superiority some may assume. In three meets to date Portugal are ahead 4-2 on aggregate with a win (in Portugal) and two draws.
The first was a 0-0 in Armenia dating back to the last day in August 1996, while the 'return' match in Portugal almost exactly a year later - the 20th of August 1997 - was won 3-1 by the Quinas. The most recent meet ended 1-1 in Portugal on the 27th of August 2007.
Team News
PORTUGAL
Portugal have a total of four absences through injury as Miguel joined Carvalho in a dry dock that also contains Carvalho's Stamford Bridge team-mate Paulo Ferreira and FC Barcelona's Deco. The Blues centre-back could be out for up to two months and Deco is sidelined for three weeks so both are out of the running until - if the logic works - the finals next year.
Scolari has laid out his plans quite openly, the main change on the recent strategy being the fielding of a Simão who sat out the last two games with a nagging injury. If recent observations prove on the money, Simão Sabrosa will be used as a '10' instead of Deco.
"Simão has played in that position before as has Nani, plus we have other options. This enables us to also interchange positions as we have several players who are versatile - plus it gives the team a more offensive slant and that could mean earlier goals", explained the Brazilian Coach.
He also confirmed that a familiar face in the starting line-up of late will start on the bench as SL Benfica striker Nuno Gomes will take it easy on his return from injury as "he's still at a stage where it's difficult to play a full ninety-minute game".
Scolari added that Pepe was in good shape but it'd probably be Fernando Meira who'd join FC Porto man Bruno Alves in the rearguard. " Pepe is in great shape and is fitting in with Real but there is a necessary time period where the atmosphere needs to be soaked in."
The Coach also confirmed that the main aim will be to "score early and control the game" in Leiria; his third and last suspension to be served out after FIFA handed down a three-match ban to the man with the close-cropped moustache and quick fists.
What he made clear is that the injuries shouldn't interfere with his plans to keep all three points and smooth out the ground for a less fraught classification than if everything goes down to the wire in the Dragão stadium in Porto against Finland on Wednesday.

"There are always unseen elements that come into play and interfere with your plans whatever you do, and we usually have to deal with three or four players who are laid up at any one time, so the situation isn't worrying at all", he explained.
"Armenia need to be taken seriously as we drew at their place and that should serve as a lesson for keeping our guard up. What we need to avoid is facilitating any counter-attacks and luckily we have a good mix of youth and experience that can help us earn a win", he stressed.
ARMENIA
Armenia are already out of the running and are playing for honour in their last two appearances before watching the finals on TV next year, but will do so in a rather battered state of wear as the coaching staff that started off the qualifiers suffered a grave blow and then another shake-up.
Former Coach Ian Porterfield stepped down because of illness and died of cancer in September and his right-hand man, ,Tom Jones has been sacked as the Armenian federation announced that they were seeking somebody with a proven track record, the 3-0 defeat to Belgium being the final straw.
"We are in talks with several foreign coaches. We are speaking about well-known coaches in the soccer world," informed Ruben Airapetian, head of the Armenian Football Federation. Given the shifting situation there is little available and confirmable news as to the state of players.
Possible Teams (Unconfirmed)
PORTUGAL (4-3-3/4-2-3-1): Ricardo; Jose Bosingwa, Marco Caneira, Fernando Meira, Bruno Alves; Miguel Veloso, Maniche, Cristiano Ronaldo, Simão Sabrosa, Ricardo Quaresma, Hugo Almeida
ARMENIA (4-4-2): Roman Berezovsky; Karen Dokhoyan, Sargis Hovsepyan, Robert Arzumanyan, Alexander Tadevosyan; Artavazd Karamyan, Levon Pachajyan, Romik Khachatryan, Hamlet Mkhitaryan; Samvel Melkonyan, Edgar Manucharyan.

source:Goal.com