The second semifinal of the UEFA Nations League takes place in Turin, where Belgium faces France. Last night we saw Spain eliminating Italy at San Siro in a very interesting and attractive matchup, and we expect nothing less from this one as well. Belgium is still licking its wounds from the recent EURO when they once again couldn’t do anything notable, despite being top favorites. Meanwhile, France is in the same position. They were the top favorite along with the Belgians, but in the end, they suffered a very nasty exit against Switzerland.
Preview
Belgium (+185) apparently bounced back following the Round of 16 loss to Italy in the previous EURO. They went on to win all three World Cup qualifying matches against Estonia, the Czech Republic, and Belarus, not allowing a goal in the last two.
The Devils have a very flamboyant style of play, which involves constant pressure on the rival’s backline and high pace. Kevin de Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku are the leaders of this unit, with Eden Hazard slowly coming back into his past form.
Three of the last four games this team played were with over 2.5 goals, but that is nothing new for the Belgians, who have one of the biggest attacking potentials in the world.
France (+155) looked very unsure at the recent EURO, which is why they ended the competition in the first round of the knockout stage.
The atmosphere in the locker room of the World champions wasn’t that great, and judging by the recent events, that didn’t change. The Gauls played only 1-1 at home vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina, and after that posted the same result on the road against Ukraine. Finally, after five games without a victory, they managed to take down Finland at home, 2-0.
Kylian Mbappe has faced negative hype over the past few several weeks, which is a big minus for not only the fantastic striker but the whole French team as well. It seems that since Lionel Messi came to Paris, things aren’t that great.
Latest News
Several regular members of Belgium’s lineup are out for this match. Meunier, Hazard, Mertens, Benteke, and Origi are all out.
Meanwhile, N’Golo Kante is the only notable name in the French selection not to be able to play tonight.
Head to Head Games
These two sides played the last time at the World Cup in Russia back in 2018. Back then, the Gauls won 1-0, and went on to lift the title later. The only scorer in that match was Samuel Umtiti.
Prediction
These two sides have superb attackers, noting that Belgium might be a bit more gifted in that aspect of the game. On the other hand, the Gauls are better in defense, but we still believe they won’t keep clean sheets. The best possible decision here is to bet on both teams to score, with the current odds settled on -120, which is not bad at all. Skip the full-time result, because it is too risky, despite hefty odds. This contest could go either way.
Pick: Both teams to score -120
Nikola Velickovic is a sports journalist who loves to write and read on all sports. Nikola contributes both news updates and functions as a sports breaking news writer at WagerBop.
Email: nikola@wagerbop.com
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