Belgium faces Russia in round 1 of the Euro group stage. The match will be played on Saturday, June 12th at Gazprom Arena (Saint Petersburg)
Belgium is approaching the tournament in a bad mood. First of all, everyone discusses the injury of the key footballer of the current roster, De Bruyne. Kevin's Champions League final was not at all successful: his club lost, and the playmaker himself was forced to leave the field after a collision with Rüdiger. Of course, the German player apologized, but the leading performer of the Red Devils had to postpone the operation. He does not train to the fullest, and according to insiders, he will definitely miss at least the 1st round. Belgium did not impress the fans in the preparatory cycle. Playing against Greece, the Devils even allowed the opponent to snatch a draw. Unstable Croatia was beaten by a single goal from Lukaku. And Courtois had to save his team at the end of that game — he turned the ball away after a difficult shot from Brekalo. However, Roberto Martinez experimented with might and main, and he definitely should draw the right conclusions from those matches. Now the lineup will be clearly different.
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The Russian national team received a serious hole in the lineup before the start of the tournament. Before the start of the last friendly match, Kudryashov was injured out of the blue. And Fyodor was one of those that took the field in almost every match. By the way, that game against Bulgaria turned out to be very difficult. And it's not about the strength of the opponent. It can hardly be said that Yasen Petrov's charges were particularly surprising. But the Russians had obvious problems with creation. Except for the shot of Zhirkov, there was nothing to remember for a long time. Miranchuk earned a penalty due to personal skill, but more experienced and skilled defenders would have taken the ball away from him without a foul. As a result, Sobolev's goal from the penalty spot (scored in the 84th minute) remained the only one. On the other hand, Russia at least managed to win before the start of the Euro. After all, the team tied against the Poles before that (1-1). Taking into account the fact that those didn’t field an optimal lineup, one can hardly call a draw a success.
Before the home world championship, the Russians gained a draw in a friendly match against the Belgians in 2017. But they won back from 1-3 at home, with Bukharov's equalizer in the 92nd minute. If we look at the other five matches, the Red Devils were stronger, including in the last two games in the qualifiers (3-1 and 4-1). Bookmakers are waiting for Belgium to win now. It is unlikely that the field factor will help the Russians, so we will bet on the stars of Roberto Martinez.
Prediction for the match: Belgium to win
