Euro 2024: Red Devils on the March

Ukraine vs Belgium

Euro 2024 Group E comes to a climax on Wednesday night, as the most competitive tussle in the competition sees all four teams, Belgium, Ukraine, Romania and Slovakia, tied on three points.  

Belgium were the group favourites and head coach Domenico Tedesco arrived in Germany with a weight of expectation that the Red Devils can challenge at the business end of the competition. But they suffered the biggest shock of the tournament so far, losing 1-0 to Slovakia, before recovering to beat Romania 2-0.

Ukraine head coach Sergey Rebrov watched his side collapse 3-0 to Romania before recovering to beat Slovakia 2-1 and keep their campaign alive: so Euro 2024: Ukraine vs Belgium, the first meeting between these two nations, is a winner takes all game and the Stuttgart Arena will be bouncing.

The Ukraine vs Belgium betting odds say the Red Devils should navigate this challenge without too much drama and march on to the knockout phase; but, with all to play for, Tedesco’s team needs to be ruthless.

 

Talking Points

Lukaku to score for Belgium

While the likes of France are gliding through to the knockout phase and Germany are already through, the Red Devils are playing catch-up and they desperately need a convincing display on Wednesday to remove any doubt they can challenge. The main problem has been, despite having 36 shots across the two games, and 14 on target, the Red Devils have only mustered two goals.

Romelu Lukaku, Belgium’s all time top scorer with 85 goals from 116 internationals has been particularly frustrated, having the unwanted record of seeing three goals disallowed by VAR, two against the Slovaks and another one against Romania. The lack of success in front of goal was very costly against Slovakia but, on Saturday, an early goal from Youri Tielemens and a late strike from Kevin De Bruyne saved Belgium from further frustration. 

Defeat to Slovakia shocked the rest of Europe let alone Belgium but Tesdesco’s team responded well. The win over Romania meant Belgium slotted into second place and now they just need to avoid defeat on Wednesday to take their place in the Round of 16. They should be able to kick on against Ukraine. De Bruyne’s Manchester City team-mate Jeremy Doku showed glimpses of his explosive talent, and he will feature again on Wednesday. But there will be one change up front as Dodi Lukebakio picked up a second yellow card to earn a suspension and that could mean a starting spot for Arsenal’s Leandro Trossard.         

 

Ukraine at full strength

With the layout of a 24 team tournament meaning only eight will go out at the first hurdle, it’s quite possible that both Belgium and Ukraine will make it through to the knockouts. Rebrov’s team, which looked much more comfortable in their second game, have some good news with the likely return of left back Vitaliy Mykolenko to the starting line-up. The Everton man has missed the first two games with a foot injury but he has been back in full training and ready to go.

After a shocker in the 3-0 loss to Romania, Real Madrid keeper Andriy Lunin lost his place to Benfica’s stopper Anatoliy Trubin and Rebrov is likely to stick with the 22 year old. Against Slovakia things started badly when Ivan Schranz scored an early goal but Arsenal wingback Oleksandr Zinchenko set up the leveller for Mykola Shaparenko with a brilliant cross. When Roman Yaremchuk scored in the 80^th minute there was bedlam in the stands and the Valencia striker will be hopeful of a start against Belgium. And Ukraine fans will be hopeful that Chelsea star Mykhailo Mudryk will be at his best against the Red Devils.      

 

History

Ukraine were quarter finalists at the 2020 Euros before losing to eventual finalists England, while Belgium’s best showing came in 1980 when they reached the final, losing 2-1 to West Germany.

Without any head to head Ukraine vs Belgium results to work on, recent form is the best guide, but there isn’t much to choose there either. The Red Devils have won three, drawn two and lost one of the last six games while Ukraine have won three, drawn one and lost two.

 

Betting Tip

We’re moving into the final round of Group E and Belgium are at SBOTOP odds of 1.67 to win this tie, which could see them win the group, while Ukraine are at 4.44 and the draw is priced at 3.64. 

The underdogs are at odds of 1.74 with that +1.00 advantage, but I think Belgium should have too much for their opponents… and maybe even Romelu Lukaku will score.    

   

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