Denmark (10th) v Belgium (1st), Thurs 17th June 17:00The main talking point for this match will be that of Christian Eriksen’s collapse, as Finland went onto beat Denmark 1-0. It’s difficult to look into that defeat too much considering the circumstances for the whole side and we’d expect them to put on a better show this Thursday.
Belgium showed why they’re the number one ranked side in the world in the opening round of fixtures, beating Russia 3-0 in St. Petersburg. They started that game without either Eden Hazard or Kevin de Bruyne, with the former being ravaged by injury this season and being asked to earn his spot in the line-up, while de Bruyne is back in training now and will likely make an appearance off the bench.
That victory means they’ve now won 20 of their 24 matches since the start of 2019, only losing to an England team at Wembley, while they had notable victories over the likes of Russia (x3), Iceland (x2), Switzerland, Croatia, Wales, Czech Republic, England and Denmark themselves on both occasions. Interestingly, each of those meetings between these sides saw Roberto Martinez’s men win by two clear goals, with Eriksen starting both those games too.
Although the Danes lost last time out, they do possess a remarkable four defeats from their last 49 appearances over 90 minutes. One of those was a friendly against Slovakia where a second-string took to the field owing to a dispute between the players and the Danish FA, two came against this Belgium outfit and the other following Eriksen’s collapse against Finland. There’s no doubt they’re an elite outfit, but without their star midfielder they’ve gone just W1-D5-L3 since the start of 2014, with the only side they faced inside the current top-18 in the world rankings over that period being England. Moreover, they managed to score just three goals across those nine games without their main attacking threat, and that probably gives us a better idea of how this one might turn out.
The visitors have gone W13-D1-L2 on the road since June 2017, as 10 of those victories came by at least two clear goals, although the majority did come against weaker opposition. Indeed, when facing the elite sides in that time in the top-15 in the FIFA World Rankings, they lost two of their three such trips, but they did win the important head-to-head which we think carries far more weight for this one. Moreover, the Danes won’t have their star man and they themselves against those top sides have gone a mere W1-D2-L2 at all venues since the start of last year, and Martinez’s men look a fair price to get the job done.
We also fancy a flutter on a multiscore. Eight of Denmark’s nine home games against the teams inside the top 20 in the world rankings have seen a maximum of two goals since the start of 2014, as all their defeats finished either 1-0. 2-0 or 2-1.
Belgium Win @ 2.060.5 Pts: Belgium Win to Nil @ 3.40.5 Pts: Belgium 1-0, 2-0 or 2-1 @ 2.87