The rest of the big guns will be watching Belgium closely because, on paper, their line-up is so strong and with Kevin De Bruyne in the engine room (in our opinion, the best midfield player in the world), this really is a formidable team.
Slovakia are the outsiders of Euro 2024, so it is difficult to think how they will tackle this game, any lapse in concentration and there is a real chance that they will be punished by any of a number of Belgium’s clinical players.
Odds and Predictions
Whatever way you look at this game for tips, it is impossible to come up with anything apart from a win for Belgium.
The odds for the win is 1.50, which, in our opinion, is a banker bet. As for the correct score, we are going for 3 – 0 to Belgium at odds of 11.0.
There are lots of opportunities for more bets as the goals for Belgium could come from anywhere on the pitch and if you have been watching Manchester City play last season, you would know that Kevin De Bruyne has always got the ability in his locker to produce an exquisite bit of magic at any time.
Bearing that in mind, we are going to use the Kevin De Bruyne predictions in a Bet Builder to add some extra interest to the game.
This beauty comes in at a mouth-watering 17.0
‘Match result Belgium’, ‘Kevin De Bruyne over 1.5 shots on target’, ‘over 2 goals’, ‘over 9 corners’ and ‘Most corners Belgium.’
Comparison and Statistics from Past Meetings between the Teams
Teams of Belgium and Slovakia have played each other H2H a total of 5 times in their history, with Belgium winning twice, Slovakia once and two games ending in a draw.
They have never played each other in a competitive match, only friendlies.
Here is a list of their last 5 head to head matches.
| Past Meetings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 Oct 2009 | belgium | 2-1 | slovakia | Friendly Game |
| 06 Feb 2002 | slovakia | 1-1 | belgium | Friendly Game |
| 05 Sep 2001 | belgium | 1-1 | slovakia | Friendly Game |
| 14 Aug 1996 | slovakia | 1-2 | belgium | Friendly Game |
| 28 Apr 1994 | slovakia | 4-1 | belgium | Friendly Game |
Expected Line Ups
The more you look at that Belgium side, the more impressive it is, packed full of players who have proven time and time again that they have what it takes to win a game.
The only player we recognise from the Slovakia side is the captain, Milan Škriniar, who plays for Paris Saint-Germain.
Belgium (4-3-3): Matz Sels; Timothy Castagne, Wout Faes, Jan Vertonghen, Arthur Theate; Youri Tielemans, Kevin De Bruyne, Amadou Onana; Jérémy Doku, Romelu Lukaku, Leandro Trossard.
Slovakia (4-3-3): Martin Dúbravka; Peter Pekarík, Milan Škriniar, Denis Vavro, Dávid Hancko; Juraj Kucka, Stanislav Lobotka, Ondrej Duda; Lukas Haraslin, Róbert Boženík, Ivan Schranz.
How Far Will These Teams Progress in the Tournament?
Let’s start with Slovakia, there’s no other outcome but for them to exit the competition in the group stages.
Belgium, on the other hand, is a different story, under the guidance of their manager, Domenico Tedesco, they do have a lot going for them, but how does this team compare with the likes of England and Germany?
We think that Belgium’s team may struggle in the knockout stages against some of the big guns, so we think they will get as far as the Quarter Finals in the competition.
