Euro 2024: Belgium x Slovakia, Match Preview, Odds, Team News and Predictions(17/06/2024)

Eden Hazard's retirement may have ended Belgium's Golden Generation, but there are still some survivors in their roster for Euro 2024. For the Red Devils, this is their last opportunity to win it. Belgium plays Slovakia, the lowest-ranked country in their group, in what should be an easy first game of their Euro 2024 campaign.

In what should be an easy opening to their campaign, Belgium takes on the lowest-placed country in their group. Belgium has won 15 of their last 16 games since losing to Morocco in the first game of their 2022 World Cup campaign (which ended in a group-stage defeat). That includes wins to acclimatize for this competition against Luxembourg and Montenegro.

Belgium x Slovakia Team News

Belgium scored three goals against Luxembourg and two past Montenegro to win those two games by an aggregate of 5-0. A goal before halftime and a late goal were features of each, and there was another parallel. Both times, Belgium won a penalty—Leandro Trossard against Montenegro and Romelu Lukaku against Luxemburg. In actuality, Belgium scored a penalty in its past three games.

Johan Bakayoko will start on the other side of Lukaku and De Bruyne, with Jeremy Doku and Leandro Trossard of Arsenal vying for the wide left position. There will be legs and hard tackling in the middle, where Mangala of Nottingham Forest and Aster Vranckx or Amadou Onana of Everton will be.

With 154 caps to his credit, Jan Vertonghen still leads the Belgian defense, although Wout Faes of Leicester, Timothy Castagne of Fulham, and Arthur Theate of Fulham provide younger legs for him. Belgium does have a question mark in goal, with Thibault Courtois absent after a season beset by injuries. Although Mats Sels of Forest is in good enough condition to participate, Koen Casteels should be selected. Thomas Kaminski of Luton was also making his senior Belgian debut this season.

Showcasing their extraordinary skill, Slovakia won seven of their eight qualifying games against countries other than Portugal.

Though Marek Hamzik retired, this squad still has a lot of experience—many of them having played in many European Championship finals.

Recalled to the team, Martin Dubravka, and Milan Skriniar will play defensively with Norbert Gyomber. Since Juraj Kucka is 37, so this will probably be his final big event. He plays midfield with Napoli's Stanislav Lobotka and foul magnet Ondrej Duda. Now at Paris St-Germain, Milan Skriniar will head the defense, giving this Slovakian lineup a faithful core of top-notch, seasoned veterans.

Lukas Haraslin and Tomas Suslov might be the wingers to flank Robert Bozenik through the center since Robert Mak has yet to make the team up front.

Head To Head And Previous Matches

The countries have only met three times before and have all been fiercely fought friendly. However, there needs to be more helpful guidance from examining the head-to-head since none have been played since Belgium's ascent to prominence in 2014.

On June 17, Frankfurt, Slovakia, and Belgium began their Euro 2024 accounts, seeking to start their campaigns with three points.

As has been their style lately, Domenico Tedesco's guys breezed to qualifying with little resistance. It is fantastic how well the Red Devils have qualified for recent significant events. During the previous three European Championships and World Cups, they won their qualifying group and lost only one game. However, they were eliminated in the 2022 World Cup group stage, so that was little use to them. But Belgium is now ranked third globally, behind only France and Argentina, largely thanks to the qualifying campaigns.

Slovakia has qualified for the European Championships three times running. Portugal, the only team Slovakia lost to throughout the competition, placed second in their qualifying group. The Slovakians have won a match at every group stage of the Euros. In 2016, they advanced to the round of 16; however, they were eliminated by Germany. Last time out at Euro 2020, they won 2-1 against Poland to begin the group. But they lost their previous two games, notably a 5-0 thumping against Spain, to finish third and, due to goal difference among the best third-placed teams, lose out on the knockout rounds.

Our Predictions

Belgium to win @1.50 on Sky247.ng

After losing in the group stage of the 2014 World Cup, Belgium has been almost flawless under new coach Domenico Todesco, a marked improvement over Roberto Martinez's tenure.

Under Todesco's tutelage, the Red Devils have gone undefeated in the last 12 months, winning ten games and drawing 4.

After eight games, they rolled to a 22-4 aggregate score, putting them in third place in qualifying, much ahead of Sweden.

Aside from Alex Witsel and Kevin De Bruyne, two members of the golden generation who had failed in the past, Romelu Lukaku led the qualifying round in scoring with an incredible fourteen goals.

This team is in flux, with young players like Jeremy Doku, Arthur Vermeeren, and Amadou Onana on the tail end of their international careers.

Monday marks the beginning of Todesco's campaign, pitting them against Slovakia, who will play in Germany.

Trossard to score anytime @3.00 on Sky247.ng

The only game that Belgium still needs to score in their past six matches was a 2-2 tie with England. Therefore, they are heavy favorites in scoring a shutout against their opponents.

Belgium and Slovakia could dominate this match since only France and Portugal allowed fewer goals throughout qualification.

The Red Devils are coming off a 3-0 victory over Luxembourg in their last preseason game, and they should be able to replicate that performance against a side that just lost 2-0 to Austria.

For his country, Leandro Trossard is set to start on the right wing, and he scored 17 goals for Arsenal this season across all competitions. However, he may be priced out of scoring in this match.

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