The big clash in the last 16 of Euro 2020 takes place on Sunday evening when Belgium take on the defending champions Portugal in potentially pivotal match in the tournament in Seville, with Italy awaiting the winners in the quarter final.
Belgium won their group with a perfect three wins from three while Portugal came out of the ‘Group of Death’ in third place and have run into another monster draw as a result of that. Both these teams will think they can win the title but only one will reach the last eight.
Where to watch
This match will be shown live on the ITV1 channel in the UK. The build-up to the match will begin after the assessment of the earlier game at around 7.15pm before the game kicks off at 8pm.
Belgium
When you look at the group phase you’ll see that Belgium won all three of their matches but I don’t think they played at their absolute maximum. In fact there were large periods where they were nowhere near it but winning is a habit and this Belgian squad are certainly well into that. They are going to need to improve for this match but with key players gaining fitness throughout the group phase you would imagine that is the case.
We know all about Belgium as an attacking force and Romelu Lukaku is already enjoying a good tournament. With Kevin de Bruyne and Eden Hazard picking up speed in the final group match we might see the best of Belgium going forward here. They might need to show that though because there is still a feeling that their defence has an ordinary look about it and they face their toughest test of the tournament in this match.
Portugal
It is sort of hard to assess Portugal based on what we’ve seen in the tournament so far. I say that because they dispatched Hungary in their opening match and they were the only team in the group to beat the Hungarians. They laid down a marker in that match but never really followed it up. They were well beaten by Germany in their second match and then held the world champions France in their third game courtesy of a couple of penalties.
I think what we did see in that initially group stage was that their attack is a lot more potent and promising than when they won the competition in 2016. It has more options and depth to it as well which will help. Where the concerns come is defensively where even with Manchester City star Ruben Dias at the heart of it, they have been wide open and teams haven’t really had to work hard for their chances. That is a huge issue against this Belgium side.
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Team News
Youri Tielemans sat out the final group match to allow Roberto Martinez the chance to get 90 minutes into Axel Witsel so the Belgium boss has a decision to make there. Kevin de Bruyne and Eden Hazard impressed in that match and should start.
Portugal have been boosted by the return to training of Nelson Semedo. He picked up a knock against France but has recovered from that. Bruno Fernandes was a surprise exclusion for the France game and might have to make do with a place on the bench again.
Betting
We should be in for a cracking contest in what if you are not of an English persuasion is comfortably the standout tie in the last 16. I say should because this is in Seville and conditions might have their say but hopefully that isn’t the case and two fantastic attacking departments can get involved in a shootout against remarkably inferior defences to their attacking counterparts. The clash pits the top two scorers in the competition against each other so everything is set for goals in this game.
Back in 2016, Portugal relied on their defensive foundations for the hallmark of their knockout victories and then took their chances that Cristiano Ronaldo could get them something at the other end. We’ve seen in this tournament that their defence isn’t nearly as strong this time around so they can’t really rely on that. Belgium look the dogs dangly things going forward but Denmark showed in the middle group match that you can get at this team and with no disrespect to a Denmark side who I really respect, there is no Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes or Diogo Jota sorts in their side. Attacks should dominate defences in this match so the odds against on over 2.5 goals will do for me.
Tips
Back Over 2.5 goals for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with Betfair
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