UEFA Nations League: Belgium vs. England Preview, Odds, Prediction

Belgium and England are clashing in the derby of this weekend’s UEFA Nations League matches. These two sides had a rough recent history, meeting twice at the World Cup, and now in the UNL. Also, many predict that they could decide about the trophy of the upcoming EURO. After all, Belgium is the No.1 team in the FIFA rankings. Meanwhile, England hosts the crucial matches and plays in front of their fans throughout most of the tournament. That is if there are fans at all. 

Preview

Belgium (+135) turned the result against Switzerland upside down, beating the guests with 2-1 in the end. After getting away with a victory in Iceland, with the same outcome, the morale is again high among the Devils, who had two slips in a row recently, the first against Ivory Coast at home in the friendly international, 1-1, and the loss against England on the road, 2-1. Furthermore, they reached the lead first in that one.

All but two matches in their latest 10 saw over 2.5 goals, and seven ended with both teams to score, which says a lot about Belgium’s mentality. Even though they haven’t played against strong nations at home, the Devils’ record is very convincing, 8 wins, two draws with 35 goals scored, and 6 conceded. 

England (+200) suffered a lone defeat in the preceding nine contests against Denmark at home, and apart from that they wouldn’t win on the road against the same opponent, recording a 0-0 draw. All other matches were solved in their favor. 

They met with Rep. of Ireland this Wednesday, posting a routine victory, 3-0, with a mixed lineup. This was the seventh game in the past 10 in which they kept a clean sheet, looking solid in the back line, even though English players aren’t shining in their clubs.

Both of their UNL road games in this edition saw under 1.5 goals, and both teams not to score.

Latest News

Romelu Lukaku should be in the protocol, and he might even start the match, which is a massive deal for this team. Eden Hazard is definitely out, the same as Timothy Castagne and Yannick Carrasco.

Liverpool’s defensive duo, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Joe Gomez are out for this matchup, which is a big blow for Gareth Southgate, who relied upon Alexander-Arnold a lot. 

Head to Head Matches

The first leg saw England’s 2-1 win, with Lukaku scoring first. Hosts responded afterward through Rashford and Mount.

Belgium won both matches at the World Cup, the first in the group stage, and the latter in the third place. In both events, England couldn’t score, and overall, since 99 four games until the one in October were inefficient, with under 2.5 goals and scores on just one side. 

Prediction

If Lukaku plays, we are suggesting to bet on Belgium’s win. He is in fantastic shape and always has a motive to play against this nation, due to his career, which saw the amazing forward experiencing various failures across the Premiership clubs. He never managed to show his full potential in England, and was labeled as a bust wherever he went (talking about big clubs). We strongly believe that Lukaku will deliver a difference that would separate these teams.