The second semi-final of the UEFA Nations League competition takes place on Thursday night when Belgium take on France in Turin in what is a repeat of the 2018 World Cup semi-final which ‘Les Bleus’ won on their way to the title.
Spain await the winners of this match in the final on Sunday and when you look at the potential cast list on show we should be in for another treat after what was a hugely entertaining opening semi-final on Wednesday evening.
Belgium
We are nearing the end of the golden generation of this Belgium outfit and as yet they haven’t won anything so the pressure is beginning to mount on this side. It would be an injustice if a squad which includes Kevin de Bruyne, Eden Hazard, Romalu Lukaku and others have no international silverware to show for their qualities. That squad might just about make it to the World Cup intact but this would represent as good a chance as any for their silverware.
Belgium are beginning to forge a reputation for being an excellent side in qualifying for major events but flattering to deceive at them. They were pretty ordinary at Euro 2020, although the injuries to Eden Hazard and Kevin de Bruyne just prior to the tournament would have accounted for some of that. One issue that needs resolving is a defence which looks gettable. Estonia recently scored two against them in a World Cup qualifier and that is a concern.
France
The world champions couldn’t add the Euro 2020 title to their collection when they came unstuck against Switzerland in the opening knockout round. You would imagine that will act as motivation to make sure that they get back on track and build up strongly to the defence of their world title in 13 months. A win in this tournament would certainly be a signal that they continue to mean business and with the players they have at their disposal they should be winning things regularly.
I think it is fair to say that the attacking part of the pitch is the better part of their game at the minute. The likes of Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann, Karim Benzema and others just need to have the shackles released and let them do their thing. Although their defenders aren’t in the twilight of their career like their opponents here, France have started conceding a few goals which might make Didier Deschamps think about how his team go about things.
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Team News
Belgium will be without the veteran Thomas Vermaelen which takes away some of their options defensively. Dries Mertens hasn’t quite overcome injury in time to be involved and there is no Jeremy Doku either despite him impressing at Euro 2020.
Didier Deschamps will be without N’Golo Kante for this semi-final as he is missing this international break due to testing positive for Covid-19. Kingsley Coman, Olivier Giroud, Ousmane Dembele, Thomas Lemar, Corentin Tolisso and Moussa Sissoko are some of those who were involved at Euro 2020 who aren’t around for this semi-final.
Betting
One of the things we have seen in these semi-finals both in the first staging of the UEFA Nations League and in the opening one this season is that teams are prepared to have a go and look to win the games as opposed to the major tournaments where there is a fear about losing them. That makes me think we might see some goals in this game and when you look at the two sets of attacking players we absolutely should see some goals too.
You would think that the pace that France have in attacking areas can see them exploit the sluggish Belgium defence but then the class of Hazard and de Bruyne and the brute force and quality of Romalu Lukaku should give the French defence nightmares. France have conceded goals against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Ukraine since the Euros while Estonia have put two past Belgium so there has to be a strong chance that both sides find the net here.
Tips
Back Both teams to score for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with William Hill
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