Belgium vs Russia: Belgian team will achieve victory

The Russians have never beaten the Belgians in their seven-match history of a head-to-head encounter. Will Stanislav Cherchesov's charges manage to break their losing streak? Our prediction: Belgium will once again win comfortably!

The Belgian team is one of the main favorites for Euro 2020. Roberto Martinez's charges won bronze medals at the 2018 World Cup, where the backbone of that team has gained experience and is now ready to fight for even greater challenges. If all recent years the Belgians were called the golden boys, now most of them are in their thirties, so you have to fight for the championship now, otherwise, it will be too late later. The Red Devils are approaching the continental championships in fine form, having won seven and two draws in their last nine games, and the last time the Belgians lost was last October.

The Russian national team performed triumphantly at the last major tournament, reaching the quarterfinals of the World Cup, but three years have passed since then, and we have not seen any further progress. Yes, Stanislav Cherchesov's charges were selected for Euro 2020 without too many problems, losing the group to Belgium, but in two consecutive UEFA Nations League games, the Russians looked ineffective, never gaining promotion. It had seemed that at least the Russian national team would begin the World Cup-2022 selection process successfully but after victories over Malta and Slovakia, 3-1 and 2-1 respectively, the Russians suffered a 1-2 defeat against Slovenia which spoilt all expectations.

Alas, the Russian team is not the favorite in the opening match of the European Championship. The Belgian team is currently in first place in the FIFA ranking, which in itself indicates its level, and now Roberto Martinez's wards are in great shape, not losing since last October. The Russians have serious personnel problems, especially in the defense, which the Red Devils will certainly take advantage of. Moreover, the last two matches ended in defeats for the Russian team - 1-3 and 1-4, that's why we should bet on the Belgian team victory with a handicap (-1.5) with the odds about 6.00.

We should talk about the Russian national team, which in the last seven matches has played zero only once, and it happened in the match against the Bulgarian team, and in total, in the given period Stanislav Cherchesov's charges conceded 13 goals (1.86 on average per game), and they have not had opponents of the Belgian level. The Red Devils have now assembled a fiery attack that has scored 74 goals (3.22 goals per game average) in the last 23 matches, including seven goals against the Russians in two games between them. On this basis, the optimal option for the prediction seems to be an individual total of more than 1.5 goals for Belgium at odds close to 1.91.

It's no secret that Romelu Lukaku is the main attacking force in the Belgian team. He has scored 49 goals (0.96 average per game) in his last 51 matches for the Red Devils, which is insane. There is no doubt that he will continue to score at Euro 2020, as he is in great form now, and with Inter last season he became the champion of Italy, scoring 24 goals in Serie A. All these figures give reason to look at a bet on Romelu Lukaku's goal with odds of about 2.40.