EURO 2020: Belgium vs. Russia Preview, Odds, Latest News, Prediction

Belgium and Russia square off in the closing match of the second day of the EURO 2020 tournament. While the Belgians stand as one of the top favorites for winning the title, Russia is one of those sides who aren’t considered the candidate for the silverware but can do a lot of harm. After all, they’ve shown that on a couple of occasions in the past and will try to repeat it. This match will be the game of the day, and it could decide many things in Group B.

Preview

Belgium (-125) will have Kevin De Bruyne ready for this event, which boosts the morale of this unit. After all, KDB is one of the best, if not the best, player in the world over a preceding couple of years. He and Romelu Lukaku are the tandem that moves the Belgian squad and has the biggest influence on its performance.

The Red Devils are first in FIFA rankings, which only shows their quality. It is needless to say how they play because most of the fans already know that. The Belgians have arguably the best offense in the world, and they constantly keep reminding everyone about that.

Right now, De Bruyne and the boys have nine matches in a row without a loss. In seven of them, they won, and two finished with a draw. The Belgians netted twice six times during that stretch.

Russia (+425) had a challenging period recently, and they’ve shown a solid quality. Stanislav Cherchesov’s team won three of the previous five contests, adding a draw and a loss.

Throughout the above-mentioned interval, all but one game saw both teams to score, which is pretty common in events involving Russia. Zbornaya is a solid team with a good attack and not-so-strong defense, which is why they frequently allow goals.

Though we need to say that the Russians play entertaining football with lots of chances, and even if the efficiency is not that high, the fans aren’t disappointed after watching these games.

Latest News

As said, De Bruyne will play, which is excellent for the nominal hosts of this event. Axel Witsel, who used to play at Gasprom Arena for quite some time, won’t appear, the same as Eden Hazard.

On the other side, Dmitri Barinov isn’t ready to play, following a big hit in the nose against Bulgaria. Roman Zobnin is out as well.

Head to Head Games

Belgium and Russia played in the EURO 2020 qualifiers throughout 2019. The Belgians were much better, winning both events with a combined result of 7-2, 3-1 at home in Brussels, and 1-4 in Russia.

Prediction

Belgium is better than Russia, and that is why we recommend betting on their victory. Russian defense isn’t capable of stopping Lukaku, Mertens, De Bruyne, and the rest of the attackers. The odds on this pick are solid, -120, making the risk/profit ratio superb. We are aware that the Russian side is going to have the fans on their side, but that can’t make such a big difference to erase Belgium’s quality.