England VS Belgium Match Prediction
2018-06-28
18:00:00
England
VS
Belgium
Our Prediction Tip
Draw will win this match.
2018-06-2818:00:00 Draw will win this match.
England have lost just twice in their previous 21 matches against Belgium – one of which was on penalties in a pre-France ’98 tournament. They have only faced the Red Devils once since the turn of the century, however – a 1-0 win at Wembley in June 2012, when Danny Welbeck scored the only goal of the game in a pre-Euro 2012 friendly.
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Belgium are unbeaten in 21 matches, a run stretching back to their first friendly after Euro 2016
England have not lost in their last 12 games – their last defeat was more than a year ago against France
Belgium have scored 15 goals in their last four matches, but Romelu Lukaku – who will miss out against England – has seven of those.
Harry Kane has scored ten of England’s last 17 competitive goals, including his five in two matches at the World Cup so far
While both teams have booked their place in the last 16, this was always going to be their toughest group stage fixture. There is little between the two teams on paper, especially if Belgium rotate players as promised.
England’s biggest criticism before the tournament was their lack of a clinical edge in front of goal, but their 6-0 thrashing of Panama went a long way to allaying those fears.
A weak Panama defence is not the biggest test, but England scoring six goals was a big boost. Belgium have scored as many goals in their first two games, however, and made much lighter work of Tunisia than England managed.
The key will be which players are selected for both teams – with the balance between resting players and building momentum tricky to manage in a major tournament.
With no obvious advantage to winning the group – a potential quarter-final with either Germany or Brazil awaits the group winners at the time of writing after the former’s slip-up in Group F – it is a chance to experiment, rest players and keep people fresh.
Romelu Lukaku missing out is a blow for Belgium, but they can bring in players of the quality of Thomas Vermaelen and Vincent Kompany at the other end, which is hardly a downgrade on their back three.
But, at the same time, England will surely be happier not facing Eden Hazard or Kevin de Bruyne, for example, if both were rested.
Belgium remain favourites, with their 21-match unbeaten run to protect, but England have gone 12 matches without defeat – holding both Germany and Brazil in that time.
It should be a much closer game than their second round of group games were, but it is hard to separate the two teams. A draw would mean the two teams will be split according to their disciplinary record – England are one better off after two matches – for top spot.
Belgium are favourites to beat England, just, but can be backed as high as 9/5 with Bet365 and Betfair. England, by contrast, are 19/10 with Bet365 and the draw is 21/10.
You can back both on a draw no bet at 5/6 with Bet365, but given both teams are protecting long unbeaten records the draw should not be discounted. A Belgium-draw double chance returns a best price of 7/15 with 10Bet, while an England-draw double chance is 1/2 with the same bookmaker.
With eight goals apiece in their two matches so far, both teams to score has been set at a best price of 17/20 with Ladbrokes.
A score draw specifically will return 10/3 with Ladbrokes and Betfair, while Belgium win and BTTS is a best price of 9/2 and the equivalent bet for England is 5/1 with Bet365.
Top goalscorer Harry Kane is clearly England’s danger man and he is 7/5 to score at any time with 888sport.
1) England and Belgium to draw at 21/10 with Bet365
2) Both teams to score at 17/20 with Ladbrokes
3) Harry Kane to score at any time at 7/5 with 888sport
Both sides have safely negotiated the group stage and were in the goals last time out, but they are difficult to split for the final match against each other. A draw would not be a bad result for either, with tougher challenges to come in the knock-out stages.
Dele Alli missed the win against Panama with a thigh strain, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek replacing him, but Gareth Southgate resisted the urge to drop out-of-form Raheem Sterling – despite a leaked team sheet suggesting he would be absent. Southgate may choose to rotate a few players – with Marcus Rashford replacing Sterling one option, while Loftus-Cheek and Kyle Walker are both on yellow cards, meaning Gary Cahill, Alli or Fabian Delph could all feature to cut the risk of suspensions.
Harry Kane (striker) – Two goals in the opening game against Tunisia and a hat-trick against Panama meant the England captain led the Golden Boot race after two games.
Kieran Trippier (right wing-back) – His tireless work rate on the right and crossing from set pieces were key to England’s attacking threat.
John Stones (centre-back) – After scoring twice against Panama he will now be vital at the other end, defending against the likes of Lukaku.
England 6-1 Panama (Stones (2), Kane (3, 2p), Lingard)
A stunning first-half performance saw England team blow Panama away in their second group game. John Stones opened the scoring with a brilliant header from a corner, before Harry Kane scored the first of two penalties when Jesse Lingard was bundled over. Lingard then scored the pick of the goals with a curling strike into the top corner, before a well-worked free-kick ended with Stones heading in his second goal. Kane dispatched another penalty after being wrestled to the ground from a penalty to give England a 5-0 half-time lead, and then completed his hat-trick after the break in bizarre circumstances when Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s shot deflected in off his heel (with him oblivious to where the ball was). As England took their foot off the gas, Panama did grab a late consolation but a place in the last 16 was never in doubt.
England are now unbeaten in their last 12 games, and have won the last four of those after their strong start to the World Cup. Victories against Nigeria and Costa Rica set the tone in England’s pre-tournament friendlies, before a 2-1 win – thanks to Harry Kane’s stoppage-time winner – against Tunisia in their first World Cup game. After hitting Panama for six last time out, England have now scored 12 times in their last four games – Kane scoring six of those. The last team to stop them winning was also the last European team they played, however – Italy, who drew 1-1 at Wembley in March.
Belgium manager Roberto Martinez has already claimed he will rotate players for the final group game, with Thomas Vermaelen and Vincent Kompany both in line to start in defence after missing the start of the tournament through injury. Dedryck Boyata has deputised in those games, but the Celtic man could retain his place with Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld rested instead. Romelu Lukaku will definitely miss out, however, with Martinez stating the game has come a day too soon as he recovers from a minor ankle injury.
Michy Batshuayi (striker) – Missed a sitter against Tunisia but then grabbed his goal and will start in place of Lukaku against England.
Eden Hazard (winger) – Two goals against Tunisia took him to 24 in 88 international appearances, though he is surely one of the players in line to be rested against England
Dries Mertens (striker/winger) – Scored against Panama and got an assist against Tunisia. The Napoli man has scored 54 goals across the last two seasons for his club too.
Belgium 5-2 Tunisia
A blistering start to the game saw Eden Hazard convert a penalty and Romelu Lukaku double the advantage before Dylan Bronn pulled a goal back for Tunisia. Lukaku restored the two-goal advantage in first-half stoppage time, and Hazard doubled his own tally on 51 minutes before both were substituted as Roberto Martinez took the opportunity to rest players. Michy Batshuayi came off the bench, missed a sitter and then scored the fifth goal before Wahbi Khazri got the final goal of the game to restore some credibility to the scoreline for Tunisia.
Belgium football team have won six of their last seven matches and have not lost since 2016 – a run of 21 games without defeat. Their World Cup preparations started with a goalless draw against Portugal, before Egypt were beaten 3-0 and Costa Rica 4-1 to build momentum well. A 3-0 win against Panama kick-started their World Cup before they dispatched Tunisia with another big win.
After both beating Panama and Tunisia – scoring eight goals and conceding two in the process – Belgium and England are already assured of a place in the second round. They meet at Kaliningrad Stadium on Thursday June 28 with top spot in Group G up for grabs .
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