Euro 2024

Belgium vs Slovakia Euro 2024 Prediction

Belgium breezed through qualifying as one of the first teams to book their place in Germany this summer. After a disappointing Euro 2021 and 2022 World Cup under Roberto Martinez, they brought in Domenico Tedesco. The Red Devils are heading into Euro 2024 unbeaten over the past 12 months, which included winning all 4 of their away games in qualifying.

Some of the golden generation still wear the red shirt – Kevin De Bruyne is coming off an excellent season with Manchester City, Romelu Lukaku has 85 goals in 115 caps, Jan Vertonghen and Axel Witsel are both in the squad. Defence will be the main question for this squad without Tibaut Courtois as their three goalkeepers, all in their 30s, only have 19 caps between them. Koen Casteels had established himself in Germany with VfL Wolfsburg after a rough start to his career with 1899 Hoffenheim a decade ago. Now he plys his trade in Saudi Arabia. Vertonghen could be partnered with Leicester City’s erratic Wout Faes and Club Brugge’s Maxim De Cuyper, with Artur Theate a doubt for the opener.

Attack is where Belgium are strong, they scored 22 goals in their 8 qualifiers. Manchester City’s creative winger Jeremy Doku plays more of a wingback role in this side, with Timothy Castagne on the other flank. Kevin De Bruyne and Youri Tielemans offer creativity in the centre of midfield, supplying Romelu Lukaku. Arsenal’s Leandro Trossard could play just behind the club’s record scorer – he himself both scores and creates chances.

Slovakia are making their third successive appearance at the European Championships – they have finished 3rd place in their group in their last two appearances. They had a very strong qualifying campaign, despite finishing 8 points behind Portugal’s perfect record. Aside from losing both against the Euro 2016 winners, the only other points they dropped were a home draw versus Luxembourg. Iceland, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Liechtenstein made up the rest of the group.

Newcastle United’s Martin Dubravka will be between the sticks. Paris Saint-Germain’s Milan Skriniar is the only household name in defence. 37-year-old right-back Peter Pekarik could come up against Jeremy Doku down the flanks. They offer an experienced midfield with former AC Milan and Watford man Juraj Kucka now 37 years old. He is one of two players with double-figure goals at international level, the other being fellow midfield Ondrej Duda. They lack any real flair or creativity and it’s hard to see how they’re going to get anything out of this Belgium team in their opener.

Best bet: Belgium to win -1.5 is 47/20 with Bet365