The pick of the Euro 2020 quarter finals take place on Friday evening when the world number one ranked side Belgium go up against a very good looking Italy side for a place in the semi-finals against the winner of the earlier match.
These two teams have looked very good in making it through to this stage so this heavyweight clash is very nicely setup. Hopefully it delivers on the promise and we should be in for a cracking encounter from Munich.
Where to watch
It is BBC1 who get the big match of the round. They will show it live and in full with the build-up beginning at 7.30pm and the match kicking off 30 minutes later.
Belgium
In the main Belgium have been very impressive in this tournament. They have won all four matches inside the 90 minutes and are the only side remaining in the competition who can say that so that has to count for something. There is an argument for suggesting we haven’t seen the best of them just yet and that has some merit. We might need to see their best here if they are not going to suffer a second straight quarter final exit in a European Championship.
Belgium have looked in excellent form going forward in this competition. The area where there is a concern is at the back but a pretty decent Portugal side failed to land a blow on them in the previous round so it isn’t as though they leak like a sieve. That defence will need to stand strong here in the weight of pressure but if it does then there is no doubt that Belgium have the personnel to cause any teams in the world problems.
Italy
There were strong shouts for Italy to be a dark horse for this tournament in the run up to it starting. It soon became apparent that they weren’t just dark horses but genuine title contenders and they need to show that form here because there are one or two question marks over them after what can only be described as a laboured and sloppy performance against Austria in the previous round. They got the job done in extra time but just didn’t look very good doing it.
The one concern that has come out of their last two matches is there could be a lack of a goal threat at the very highest level. I think there is something in that and although they probably have the best midfield in the tournament and a very mean defence, if you can stick the ball in the onion bag you are going to struggle to win. It might just have been a bad night at the office at Wembley Stadium last Saturday but Italy will need it to have been.
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Team News
Belgium are sweating over the fitness of Kevin de Bruyne and Eden Hazard after they both sustained injuries in the win over Portugal. It didn’t look at all good for de Bruyne at the time so he might be a major doubt. Dries Mertens would come in if either don’t make it.
Italy will be hoping to have their captain Giorgio Chiellini back from injury for this match and it might be that his presence is what they need to spur them to get back to their best. Marco Verratti is expected to keep his place in midfield despite Matteo Pessina scoring again.
Betting
I have two outright bets which could land in this match having backed Italy to exit at the quarter final stage and Belgium to score more than 8.5 goals. That means I am effectively already on Belgium to qualify here at 5/2, a bet I’m happy to let ride. They have eight goals in the tournament so I just need them to find the net for that to come in which suits me because I don’t think this is the easiest match to bet on I have to say.
I will go with one though and that is to snap up the 15/8 that Romelu Lukaku scores anytime. Only Cristiano Ronaldo scored more than his 24 strikes in Serie A last season so the Belgian powerhouse up top clearly has the beating of the Italian defenders and we’ve seen throughout the tournament that there is nothing wrong with the supply line to him whether Kevin de Bruyne starts or not. Lukaku has three goals in the tournament so if Belgium progress from this match he’ll have his eye on the Golden Boot. He can score a step closer to it by finding the net in this one.
Tips
Back R.Lukaku to score anytime for a 2/10 stake at 2.88 with Betway
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